Not unexpectedly, Jim Watson retired last week as Chancellor of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), about a week after a series of controversial remarks that got him, yet again, in hot water. In his statement (which, mysteriously enough, didn’t come from a CSHL or other institutional e-mail address but from a Gmail mailbox), he says “the passing on of my remaining vestiges of leadership is more than overdue”.

I guess one would have to agree with him. Over the years, the scientist who achieved immortality by giving us the structure of DNA has found himself too often in the eye of the storm for making comments that rub too many people the wrong way (a selection of them can be found here and here).

Why he has chosen to stay in the public eye for so long and tarnish his image with inappropriate comments, only he knows. But the other day, reading a blog in a newspaper that covered Watson’s latest faux pas, you could read several comments along the lines of “What else would you expect of someone who stole Rosalind Franklin’s data?” and other things to the same effect.

Is this really the way we will remember Jim Watson? I hope not, and therefore think that his retirement arrives at a good time, before this collateral damage to this legacy is still minor.