World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!

D-Index & Metrics

Biology and Biochemistry

D-Index
61
Citations
53285
World Ranking
11069
National Ranking
4783

Research.com Recognitions

  • 1998 - Member of Academia Europaea
  • 1997 - US President's National Medal of Science "For five decades of scientific and intellectual leadership in molecular biology, ranging from his co-discovery of the double helical structure of DNA to the launching of the Human Genome Project.", Presented by President Bill Clinton in a ceremony in Room 450, Old Executive Office Building, on Tuesday, December 16, 1997.
  • 1990 - Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada Academy of Science
  • 1987 - Fellow of the Royal Society, United Kingdom
  • 1983 - Fellow of John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
  • 1981 - Fellow of the Royal Society, United Kingdom
  • 1965 - Fellow of John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
  • 1962 - Nobel Prize for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material
  • 1962 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 1957 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 1953 - Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada

Overview

James D. Watson is affiliated with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in the United States and has an extensive publication record primarily in chemistry and materials science. Their work spans multiple subfields including materials chemistry, organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, atomic and molecular physics, and process chemistry and technology.

The scientist's research focuses on topics such as crystallization and solubility studies, X-ray diffraction in crystallography, organometallic complex synthesis and catalysis, inorganic fluorides and related compounds, carbon dioxide utilization in catalysis, asymmetric hydrogenation and catalysis, and advanced chemical physics studies.

Some of the recent papers authored by Watson include:

  • Binding methane to a metal centre, 2022, Nature Chemistry
  • [Fp(CH4)]+, [η5-CpRu(CO)2(CH4)]+, and [η5-CpOs(CO)2(CH4)]+: A Complete Set of Group 8 Metal-Methane Complexes, 2022, Journal of the American Chemical Society
  • Efficient learning of ground & thermal states within phases of matter, 2023, arXiv (Cornell University)
  • Ferralactone formation from iron acetylides and carbon dioxide, 2022, Journal of Organometallic Chemistry
  • Coordination of ethane, pentane and cyclopentane to a cationic osmium complex: comparisons in alkane binding, 2025, Chemical Science

Frequent co-authors of Watson include Leslie D. Field, Graham E. Ball, Hsiu L. Li, Peter M. Jurd, and Mohan Bhadbhade.

Watson has published regularly in venues such as The Cambridge Structural Database, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Nature Chemistry, arXiv (Cornell University), and Journal of Organometallic Chemistry.

Over the course of their career, Watson has been recognized with several honors, including:

  • Member of Academia Europaea, 1998
  • US President's National Medal of Science, 1997, awarded for scientific and intellectual leadership in molecular biology including the co-discovery of the double helical structure of DNA and launching the Human Genome Project
  • Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, 1990
  • Fellow of the Royal Society, United Kingdom, 1987 and 1981
  • Fellow of John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, 1983 and 1965
  • Member of the National Academy of Sciences, 1962
  • Nobel Prize, 1962, for discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material
  • Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1957
  • Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, 1953

Best Publications

  • Molecular structure of nucleic acids: a structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid.

    James D Watson;Francis Harry Compton Crick

  • Genetical implications of the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid

    James D. Watson;Francis Crick

  • Genetical implications of the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid. 1953

    J. D. Watson;F. H. C. Crick

  • Origin of concatemeric T7 DNA.

    Watson Jd

  • A structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid

    J. D. Watson;F. H. C. Crick

  • Cloning of a T cell growth factor that interacts with the beta chain of the interleukin-2 receptor

    Kenneth H. Grabstein;June Eisenman;Kurt Shanebeck;Charles Rauch

  • Biologia molecular da célula

    Bruce Alberts;Dennis Bray;Julian Lewis;Martin Raff

  • THE STRUCTURE OF DNA

    James D. Watson;Francis Crick

  • Tackling antibiotic resistance

    Karen Bush;Patrice Courvalin;Gautam Dantas;Julian Davies

  • Ribonucleoprotein particles from Escherichia coli

    A. Tissières;J.D. Watson;D. Schlessinger;B.R. Hollingworth

  • Molecular structure of nucleic acids

    J. D. Watson;F. H. C. Crick

  • Structure of Small Viruses

    Francis Crick;James D. Watson

  • The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA

    James D. Watson;Samuel Devons

  • Values from a Chicago upbringing

    James D. Watson

  • Unstable Ribonucleic Acid Revealed by Pulse Labelling of Escherichia Coli

    Francois Gros;H. Hiatt;Walter Gilbert;C. G. Kurland

  • CD4+ T cells that express high levels of CD45RB induce wasting disease when transferred into congenic severe combined immunodeficient mice. Disease development is prevented by cotransfer of purified CD4+ T cells.

    Philip J. Morrissey;Keith Charrier;Steven Braddy;Denny Liggitt

  • The human genome project: past, present, and future

    James D. Watson

  • The molecular structure of polyadenylic acid.

    Alexander Rich;David Davies;Francis Crick;James D. Watson

  • The Complementary Structure of Deoxyribonucleic Acid

    Francis Harry Compton Crick;James Dewey Watson

  • Potential Biohazards of Recombinant DNA Molecules

    Paul Berg;David Baltimore;Herbert W. Boyer;Stanley N. Cohen

Frequent Co-Authors

Bruce Alberts
Bruce Alberts University of California, San Francisco
Keith Roberts
Keith Roberts John Innes Centre
Martin Raff
Martin Raff University College London
David Baltimore
David Baltimore California Institute of Technology
Gunther S. Stent
Gunther S. Stent University of California, Berkeley
Darryl J. Pappin
Darryl J. Pappin Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Nicholas K. Tonks
Nicholas K. Tonks Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Walter Gilbert
Walter Gilbert Harvard University
Daniel Nathans
Daniel Nathans Johns Hopkins University
Stanley N. Cohen
Stanley N. Cohen Stanford University

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