Ten Minutes With An Icon

October 11, 2011

One of the perks of being co-program chair of this meeting is that I had the assignment of meeting James Dewey Watson at his hotel and accompanying him to the opening ceremony. Even if you aren't a geneticist you will surely know that Watson won the Nobel Prize in 1962 for his discovery of the structure of DNA, or, as the Nobel Prize committee wrote, "for his discovery concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material." He is an iconic figure in the world of science. He was born in 1928 and made his Nobel-worthy discovery at age 25! He was clearly a child prodigy. He enrolled at the University of Chicago at age 15. He has had a stellar scientific career, but it has been marked by his controversial statements on race and eugenics. I was worried last night about what I would say to him, but it turns out that he is quite chatty and remarkably fit for an 83 year old! When my "card key" that was supposed to grant access throughout the convention center didn't work, he bounded up a set of stairs. He told me he plays singles tennis, and has to pay someone to play against him because he can't find an opponent of a similar age. He was wearing a tie with elephants on it. I asked him if it was a political statement, and he said absolutely not, it went with his shirt! (He later made anti-Tea Party statements on stage.) We also chatted about Steve Jobs' death and how it affected both of us. I was very pleased that I was able to fulfill my assignment to bring him to the conference hall, which was no easy feat because he was mobbed throughout the convention center by people wanted to have their picture taken with him or get his autograph. In the meeting there was a great panel discussion on whether or not to sequence one's own genome (see top photo). Four of the people in the top photo had all done it (except fot the moderator, on the right). The woman, who is a clinical geneticist in Holland, became an instant celebrity as the first woman to have her genome analyzed. The man in the middle with the glasses found out the underlying reason for a genetic disease that ran in his family and caused muscle problems, and the man next to Watson found out that he was at increased risk for macular degeneration. He convinced his wife that they needed to buy an LED television to reduce UV exposure to his eyes (the audience laughed at this)!