Overview
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory confirmed his death following a brief illness at age 97.
- His son told the New York Times he was moved to hospice in East Northport for palliative care while being treated for an infection.
- He and Francis Crick described the DNA double-helix in 1953 and shared the 1962 Nobel with Maurice Wilkins, with Rosalind Franklin’s X‑ray data providing crucial evidence.
- He led Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory for decades and was the first director of the NIH’s National Center for Human Genome Research, helping launch the Human Genome Project.
- His later racist and other offensive remarks led to censure, including CSHL’s revocation of honorary titles in 2018 and the loss of remaining honors after renewed comments in 2019; he also auctioned his Nobel medal in 2014 for about $4.8 million, later returned by the buyer.