Lab Suspends Watson After Race Row

Embattled geneticist James Watson was suspended from his laboratory today in response to comments he made suggesting that black people are inherently less intelligent than whites, the London Times  reports. The 79-year-old scientist  canceled a British book tour and headed back to the States. The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, which he has led for 40 years, said it was suspending his administrative duties "pending further deliberation.”

Yesterday Cold Springs, like much of the scientific establishment, condemned Watson's inflammatory interview. Watson, who shared a 1962 Nobel for the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA, apologized yesterday. Said his publisher:  “Dr. Watson feels he needs to go home and sort things out.” (More James Watson stories.)