James Watson is a leading scientist

On July 3-7, in the "scientists' house" in Moscow, James Watson lectured on "DNA and brain: the search for mental illness genes". A large part of this very intensive lecture is quite interesting general issues about the science and functions of scientific agencies.

Nobel laureate James Watson is also a talented organizer. For 35 years (1968 - 2003), the Cold Spring Harbor laboratory - one of the leading US research centers, recruited a team of effective scientists. Not only that, he also secured abundant funding.

James Watson next to the DNA model associated with his name.(Photo: genciencia.com)

Golden rules

DNA and autism

In terms of scientific work in progress, Watson said he is investigating the effects of genetic changes on the development of diseases such as autism, Asperger syndrome (autism) and schizophrenia.

Scientist insists to study autism or schizophrenia, need a genetic map of the patient. He said that in the future, the technologies will be complete, allowing each person to get their full genetic code at the same price as buying a regular car. Regarding treatment of these two diseases, the scientist is not optimistic.

According to him, it is difficult to have a breakthrough in this field for at least ten years. Currently, it is only hope that researchers "dig" to the causes of these diseases.

Now 80 years old, an American professor has said he has never lost interest in science. But he surprised many people by saying he did not study science in the years leading the lab, because his main job was to find talent.

He confessed to finding ways not to admit famous scientists. Instead, he is interested in young people who want to learn about cancer - a subject Watson is also interested in. He also did not directly hand-hold the work of the people he took. He only performed well the principle of decentralization, so that "if I go away for a year, everything will still work." Watson said he tried to make himself "utterly useless".

Another principle of Watson's leadership in the laboratory is in favor of changing personnel. He didn't let scientists work at Cold Spring Harbor for too long. So the average age of the staff there is only about 40.

In addition to human resources policies, Watson also strives to "not annoy the sponsors ". He affirmed that Cold Spring Harbor never had any money. To attract investors to the lab, Watson tried to take care of the campus, namely building new plants, planting trees . to create attraction for the center.

In his talk, Watson mentioned speed several times. The speed of research and decision-making processes. He emphasized: the speed needed to discover and invent earlier than others. "Never take up jobs if you don't believe you won't be able to (do) better than others" - he advises. One of the factors that stagnates scientific works, he says, is to set up different boards. Under his leadership, Watson absolutely did not allow these bureaucratic structures to appear here.

Talent and enjoy scandal!

Molecular biologist James Watson (USA) was born in 1928. In 1950, he received his doctorate in zoology. However, his work is not merely associated with animals. In 1953, he and his colleague Francis Crick explored the molecular structure of DNA. In 1962, Francis Crick, James Watson and their lab leader - Maurice Wilkins, were awarded the Nobel Prize for this work.

James Watson (left) and Francis Crick after they discovered DNA in 1953. (Photo: A. Barrington Brown)

After DNA, James Watson continued to study molecular biology, received various awards and wrote many books, including specialized textbooks on molecular biology as well as famous scientific works. other. He is currently an advisor to the Allen Institute of Brain Science, founded by Paul Allen in 2003 in Washington state.

Known for his "serious consequences" statements, this time, in Moscow, Watson stated: women who do not care about children often have a genetic defect associated with autism. Children's love and attention to them are the natural characteristics of women. Once there is no such desire, it is possible that these women have chromosomes that are defective but the disease does not fully reveal.

It is the same shocking statements that this statement caused James Watson to leave Cold Spring Harbor. It was in 2007, when he said that the intellectual capacity of black and white people was different, but that black people were less intelligent than white people; although the genetic evidence of this conclusion can only appear after a few years. Watson's statement caused him to be criticized for racism, leading to a departure from Cold Spring Harbor.

In conclusion, Lenta.ru said that although he did not meet all the questions related to the topic, the talk of scientist James Watson could not be called uninteresting. He did exactly the same thing as advising others in the book Avoiding Others to be bored: "Never say boring things that someone said . In order not to make others bored, you need to work hard to keep yourself from being bored." myself . Success often comes to those who can do something sooner than the rest, not to those who are smarter than their opponents. '

One more interesting detail in James Watson himself: a Sunday Times article on December 9, 2007, citing deCODE Genetics, revealed Watson's genetic map shows that 16% of Watson's DNA is of African origin. and 9% of Asian origin!

NG.THANH extract