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Watson Retires Amid Race Furor

Watson leaves job as Laboratory head

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 25, 2007 12:39 PM CDT

(Newser) – Amid outrage over recent racial remarks, Nobel Prize-winning geneticist James Watson is retiring as chancellor of Long Island’s Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the New York Times reports. Watson, 79, said his departure was overdue but admitted this wasn’t how he’d wanted to leave. The lab suspended Watson after he said that black people were  less intelligent than white.

Watson said he was “inherently gloomy” about Africa, because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours—whereas all the testing says not really.” He has since apologized unreservedly, saying the comments had no scientific basis. Watson won his Nobel for co-discovering the double-helix structure of DNA.

James Watson announced his retirement today, in the wake of racially-charged comments
James Watson announced his retirement today, in the wake of racially-charged comments   (Getty Images)
US scientist and DNA discoverer James Watson poses for photographers behind a model of the 'DNA Double Helix', which was discovered by Watson and Francis Crick at an exhibition in Berlin in this  Monday, Oct. 11, 2004 file photo. Watson scientist who won the Nobel Prize for co-discovering the molecular...
US scientist and DNA discoverer James Watson poses for photographers behind a model of the 'DNA Double Helix', which was discovered by Watson and Francis Crick at an exhibition in Berlin in this Monday,...   (Associated Press)
This photo, supplied by Knopf, shows James Watson, author of  Avoid Boring People. Watson is retiring after saying that black people were less intelligent than whites.
This photo, supplied by Knopf, shows James Watson, author of "Avoid Boring People." Watson is retiring after saying that black people were less intelligent than whites.   (Associated Press)
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