|  James
D. Watson, the Nobel Prize-winning co-discoverer of the DNA molecule
and one of history's most important scientists, says he is "very
libertarian."
In the January 2007 issue of Esquire magazine, Watson declared:
"I'm basically a libertarian. I don't want to restrict anyone from
doing anything unless it's going to harm me. I don't want to pass a
law stopping someone from smoking. It's just too dangerous. You lose
the concept of a free society."
This wasn't the first time that Watson had declared his libertarian
sentiments. In a July 2003 interview in Discover magazine,
as part of a discussion about political control over genetic decisions,
he said:
"Well, my sensibility is very libertarian. Just let all genetic
decisions be made by individual women. That is, never ask what's good
for the country; ask what's good for the family. I don't know what's
good for the country, but you can often say what's good or bad for the
family. That is, mental disease is no good for any family. And so if
there's a way of trying to fight that, I'd let a woman have the choice
to do it or not do it. Not give in and have the state tell you to have
a certain sort of child. I would be very frightened by the state telling
you one way or the other."
In an interview in the Fall 2005 issue of New Perspectives Quarterly,
Watson was asked, "Is there the need of some legal restriction
to genetic research?" He answered: "I would say no. I am very
libertarian. If someone discovers one day that we can add a gene so
that children can be born more intelligent, or more beautiful, or healthier
-- well, I do not see why not to do it."
Watson was born in Illinois in 1928. He was an unknown 25-year-old molecular
biologist at the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University when,
along with Francis Crick, he experienced what Discover magazine
describes as "one of the great eureka moments in the history of
science: They discovered that DNA is organized in the shape of a double
helix -- two intertwining strands of nucleotides on a superstructure
of sugar." Their insight into the structure of deoxyribonucleic
acid (DNA) opened to door to modern molecular biology and the biotechnology
industry -- and eventually led to world-changing breakthroughs in medicine,
agriculture, forensics, anthropology, and biology.
Along with Crick and Maurice Wilkins, Watson was awarded a Nobel Prize
in 1962 for his discovery. In 1971, Watson was also awarded the National
Medal of Science, and in 1977 was the recipient of the Presidential
Medal of Freedom.
Watson has continued to play a major role in the field of genetics.
He was the original director of the Human Genome Project, a revolutionary
scientific project to identify all the genes in human DNA and determine
the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up human
DNA.
The benefits of the Human Genome Project are almost incalculable. Already,
the information has made possible genetic tests showing predisposition
to many illnesses, including breast cancer, disorders of hemostasis,
cystic fibrosis, and liver diseases.
Expected future benefits include more productive crops; innovative ways
to clean the environment; new biofuel energy sources; more sophisticated
DNA tests to exonerate wrongfully accused persons; greater success in
organ transplants; more effective prevention and treatment of illnesses;
and much more.
Watson has also achieved success as a writer. In 1968 he wrote The
Double Helix, a best-selling account of the personalities and conflicts
in the race to discover the structure of DNA. Modern Library includes
it on their list of the 100 best nonfiction books. His science textbooks
(including The Molecular Biology of the Gene) set new standards
in the way such texts are written and organized. In 2003, he wrote (with
Andrew Berry) DNA: The Secret of Life, which, among other controversial
topics, argued in favor of genetically modified crops and prenatal genetic
testing.
In 1994 Watson became president of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on
Long Island. Watson built the lab into a world leader in genetic research;
scientists working under him uncovered the molecular nature of cancer
and identified cancer genes for the first time. Every year thousands
of scientists from around the world study at the lab, and Cold Spring
plays a major role in advancing international genetic research.
In a 2001 interview with the Academy of Achievement, Watson predicted
that continuing breakthroughs in molecular biology and biotechnology
will lead to a brighter future for mankind. "I'd say we have a
realistic chance to cure most cancers certainly within your lifetime,"
he said. "I would think In 100 years we should be able to control
Alzheimer's. The next 100 years is going to be extraordinary, what we
are going to find out about human beings, and I have no doubt that human
lives will be healthier and happier."
Quotable
"I'm
basically a libertarian. I don't want to restrict anyone from doing
anything unless it's going to harm me." -- James D. Watson
in Esquire magazine (January 2007)
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