Since the early days of the Genome Sequencing Center at Washington University School of Medicine, researchers and staff trying to decipher the mysteries of DNA had the name “Watson” embedded in their professional email addresses.
For good reason. Along with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, James D. Watson was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1962 for discovering the structure of DNA. The Genome Sequencing Center bases all of its science on the pioneering work of Watson, Crick and Wilkins.
That is why the names “Watson” and “Crick” were used for the first two computers purchased by the project in the early ‘90s.
“‘Watson’ just happened to be the server that was used for incoming and outgoing email,” said Richard K. Wilson, Ph.D., professor of genetics and director of the Genome Sequencing Center at the Washington University School of Medicine.
“When you’re working on DNA, you tend to name things like this.”
Indeed, email responses from Wilson on Monday had “Watson.wustl.edu” as part of his email address, with “Watson” stamped there by the email server of that name.
But, that is changing, as the name “James Watson” now also connotes racism directed at people of African descent.
In a story in London’s Sunday Times, Watson was quoted as saying he was “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa” because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really.”
He went on to say this inherent intellectual disparity between blacks and whites was evident to anyone who had employed a black person.
Watson, who is 79, has a past history of making offensive comments. He previously has said black people have greater sex drives than white people and a woman should have the right to abort her unborn child if tests found the child was going to be gay.
Watson did not deny making the racist statements, which the Times said were recorded. However, in the face of instant international outrage, he did apologize and said, “That is not what I meant. More importantly, from my point of view there is no scientific basis for such a belief.”
But, the damage to his reputation had been done.
Will Ross, M.D., dean of diversity programs at the Washington University School of Medicine (and a black man himself), was one of many scientific professionals enraged by Watson’s racist remarks.
“There is no way to tolerate such backwards, anti-intellectual comments supposedly based in science,” Ross said.
“It goes against what we are trying to promote – an unbiased, evidence-based approach to these particular issues.”
Ross said the comments revealed Watson’s “own undiluted bias and prejudice, and no one should stand quietly and let those comments go unchecked.”
When the “Watson” email server – and its encoding of Watson’s name in faculty and staff emails – was brought to Ross’ attention, he called Wilson at the Genome Sequencing Center, as did a member of the media.
Wilson told the American, “As far as I know, there is no hard scientific evidence to suggest that any human population group or race or gender is intellectually inferior to any other group, race or gender.”
After Ross called him, Wilson said, the center decided to remove the pioneering scientist’s name from his and others’ email addresses.
“We are dropping the ‘Watson’ from our email addresses,” Wilson said.
“How quickly it happens is simply a matter of dealing with all of the requisite logistics of making such a change. The reason why is because the name is obviously offensive to members of our community.”
Watson also has been suspended from New York’s Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory, where he was chancellor. Many of his readings and speaking engagements have been cancelled as well. He was speaking to the Times in the context of promoting his new memoir, Avoid Boring People.