James Baquet

    Biotechnology, according to the United Nations, is “any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use.” In its simplest forms — like agriculture and medicine — it has been around for thousands of years. But the work of two men has made it one of the hottest fields in research today.

    Although DNA had been isolated back in 1869, it wasn’t until 1953 that the British biologist Francis Crick (1916-2004) and his American colleague James Watson (b. 1928) identified its molecular structure. Innumerable advances have been built on that discovery.

    Today we’ll look at Watson, not least because he occasionally puts his foot in his mouth and ends up in the news. James Watson took his PhD in 1950 from Indiana University, and then worked in various posts internationally. He met Crick at the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University, where they “unraveled” (the commonly used verb) the secret of DNA’s “double helix” structure.

    The announcement was made quietly, but once the press got hold of it, the find grew in importance until some have called it “the most important scientific discovery of the 20th century.” True or not, it was indeed important, and Watson has had a successful career.

    But his life has not been without controversy. For one thing, there is some question about where Crick and Watson got their data. They seem to have used, without permission, unpublished notes written by Rosalind Franklin on experiments she had conducted with her colleague, Raymond Gosling.

    Furthermore, in the past 20 years Watson has made numerous statements that have been construed as sexist, racist, in support of eugenics, and discriminatory against the obese. He has also written a memoir, “Avoid Boring People,” in which he characterizes his colleagues as old-fashioned (“dinosaurs,” “fossils,” “has-beens”) and ineffective (“mediocre,” “vapid”).

    Many feel this behavior is unfortunate, and is unbecoming for a man of such great accomplishments.

    Vocabulary:

    Which word above means:

    1. says something embarrassing

    2. people who are overweight

    3. dull, boring

    4. not very good (at something)

    5. unattractive, unsuitable

    6. understood to mean

    7. having its threads separated (a metaphor)

    8. unable to be counted

    9. written reflection on one’s life

    10. not announced publicly