DNA Pioneer’s Genome Blurs Race Lines

Remember James D. Watson, the American co-discoverer of the structure of DNA and Nobel Prize winner, who raised a storm a couple of months ago when he said that black Africans are not as intelligent as whites? It turns out that ol' boy has a genetic makeup that is 16% sub-Saharan African.

An analysis of Dr. Watson’s genome shows that he has 16 times the number of genes of black African origin than the average white European does — about the same amount of African DNA that would show up if one great-grandparent were African, said Kari Stefansson, the chief executive of deCODE Genetics of Iceland, which did the analysis.

The controversy began in October, when The Times of London Dr. Watson, who was on a book tour, as saying that 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 said that “there are many people of color who are very talented,” and he hoped people were equal, but that “people who have to deal with black employees find this not true.” Dr. Watson later apologized.

After the news of Dr. Watson’s genetic ancestry was published in The Times of London on Sunday, much of the British media played the news for a lark, with headlines like “Revealed: Scientist Who Sparked Racism Row Has Black Genes” and “DNA Pioneer James Watson Is Blacker Than He Thought.” “The irony is bigger, and broader, than his having made derogatory comments and having an ancestral relationship with the folks he insulted,” said Kathy Hudson, the founder and director of the Genetics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. As people see what happens to Dr. Watson and others as they undergo what she called the “molecular Full Monty,” the inevitable surprises might “help people make the decision about whether they want their information for themselves, and to ask, Who will I share this with?”

Dr. Watson had placed his own, entire genome - the map of all his genes - information online, as has another genetics pioneer, J. Craig Venter. Dr. Stefansson said he simply ran the data through his company’s analytical system.

A publicity agent for Dr. Watson said that his client had no comment on the most recent turn of events.

My response: Why isn't the usually quite vocal Dr. Watson commenting on this news, especially given that he published his own genomic sequence online? LOL Given his field, I assume that he was aware of this information. Does Dr. Watson conclude that he is less intelligent than his white peers because of his not-insubstantial black African ancestry? Research shows that about 1/3 of white Americans have black African ancestry between 2-20%, so a lot of white folks ain't lily-white like they believe. These tests are good at knocking down stuff. Dr. Watson's mother's parents came straight out of Glasgow, Scotland and Tipperary, Ireland. However, his daddy's side of the family is supposedly of vague "midwestern English descent." I'd bet the black ancestry comes from his dad's side of the family, as somebody in his family clearly crossed over back in the day. Add his 9% Asian genetic makeup, and 25% of this dude's genetic makeup ain't even European. That ain't white enough to be considered white by most white folks LOL. Back in Dr. Watson's prime, that 16% black African ancestry would've been black enough to be cast as Negro, and thus a black employee LOL. Call me catty, but one thing that Dr. Watson didn't inherit from either his black or Asian genes is the ability to age gracefully.