TEXT OF THE INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS DELIVERED BY:
PROFESSOR GERALD O’SULLIVAN, Director of the Cork Cancer Research Centre in University College Cork on 8th of September 2010, on the occasion of the conferring of the Degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa, on JAMES D. WATSON
A Sheánsailéir, a Uachtarán, a mhuintir na hOllscoile agus a dhaoine uaisle, Chancellor, President, Colleagues, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, Dr James Dewey Watson, Nobel Laureate. His accomplishments and contributions transcend boundaries, disciplines, and generations. One of the greatest scientists ever, he is also a respected leader, a gifted administrator, a brilliant author and a beacon in the Gaelic Diaspora.
It is appropriate that we should celebrate our honouree here beneath the Boole window in the Aula Maxima of University College Cork where George Boole, the foundation professor of mathematics, wrote “ An Investigation of the Laws of Thought on Which are Founded the Mathematical Theories of Logic and Probabilities”. Boolean logic would become the basis of the binary code on which computer programming systems are based, thus making possible the storage, processing and application of information by digital technology. Almost 90 years later in a further Irish context, Erwin Schrödinger based his book “What is Life” on a series of lectures he gave at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Dublin. He argued that life could be explained in terms of the storage, the processing and the application of biological information that was determined by molecular arrangements in the chromosomes. Life could therefore be understood by finding and decoding the molecular structure and functions of the gene. His work exercised a profound influence on the careers of many brilliant aspiring scientists and consequently on the evolution of the biological sciences. On reading it in 1946, a young biology student at the University of Chicago, James Watson, was so influenced that he resolved to change his career from zoology to investigate the structure and function of the gene.
One hundred years after Boole’s contribution, Dr Watson and Francis Crick would discover the structure of DNA, a double helix held together by base pairs. The consistent pairing of the bases suggested a code and a copying mechanism for storage and transmission of genetic information. Essential to the structure of DNA is the type of base pairing that Dr Watson discovered. This base pairing is also crucial for RNA and there is increasing evidence that it was pivotal in the origin of life on earth before the advent of DNA.
George Boole had written “No matter how correct a mathematical theorem may appear to be, one ought never to be satisfied that there was not something imperfect about it until it also gives the impression of being beautiful”. <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/georgebool179597.html> Over a century later Dr Watson would write “Science moves with the spirit of an adventure characterized both by youthful arrogance and by the belief that the truth, once found, would be simple as well as pretty”. <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/jamesdwat400183.html> The structure of DNA, the double helix was indeed the discovery of truth both simple and beautiful. It was published in Nature in 1953; volume 4536, page 737; it contained 900 lustrous words. Never was a fundamental discovery reported with such brevity and such clarity.
James Dewey Watson was born in Chicago on 1928. His parents were both of Scottish and Irish ancestry. He was admitted to the University of Chicago on scholarship assistance at age only 15 years and graduated in Zoology in 1947. In his autobiography, “Avoid Boring People”, he describes how the University of Chicago completed his “conversion to a life devoted to discovery of the natural world for its own sake”.
During graduate studies at Indiana University while working on Phage, under the tutelage of Salvador Luri, he became convinced, contrary to the conventional opinion, that DNA was not just a “Stupid Molecule” but was indeed the genetic material. He gained his PhD there at age 22 years.
A year of post-doctoral research at Copenhagen would have been unremarkable had he not attended a meeting in Italy, where he saw Maurice Wilkins present his x-ray diffraction data on DNA. He was now more certain that the molecular structure of DNA could be resolved and he wished to be part of the adventure. On request, a new postgraduate fellowship was arranged for him at the Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge where he met Francis Crick and they forged one of the most enduring friendships and successful partnerships in the history of science.
They overcame many setbacks, opposition and sometimes ridicule – once likened to “amateurs playing with tinker toys”. Within weeks the “amateurs” were transformed into icons of science for their assembly from “tinker toys” the correct model of DNA - a feat described by Sir Peter Medawar as “the greatest achievement of science in the twentieth century”.
“All changed, changed utterly” with the description of the double helix. The magnificent beauty would liberate humanity from false premises allowing an unbridled scientific energy to be applied to many of the heretofore unresolvable questions. A new science – molecular biology would emerge and ensuing developments were to include the understanding of the genetic code, of the mechanism of protein synthesis, the development of recombinant technology, the explanation of viral structure, viral replication and virulence, the elucidation of the molecular basis of many genetic disorders and diseases, the development of gene therapies and the development of genetic identification. On the horizon, once very distant, is a personalised medicine with genetic diagnoses, prediction, prophylactic intervention and targeted treatments of intractable diseases including cancer.
Watson himself was central to many of these developments. His leadership and iconic status was the inspiration and driving force behind the establishment of the human genome project and he served as its foundation director at the National Institutes of Health between 1988 and 1992. He resigned, however, from this position because he disagreed with an imposed policy that the gene sequences and allied discoveries would be protected by patent and ownership laws, believing that this policy would be a barrier to research. He would say "The nations of the world must see that the human genome belongs to the world's people, as opposed to its nations”.
Without his influence the benefits of gene-cloning and recombinant technology would have been substantially delayed or still-born. In the mid 1970’s, he successfully opposed a growing movement for a possible moratorium which was fuelled by anxiety and misinformation. Of local significance, a few years later one of the first major pharmaceutical industries based on recombinant technologies was opened in Cork and is still located about 20 kilometres west of here.
An outstanding twenty years sojourn began in 1956 at Harvard University, where his laboratory made fundamental discoveries in gene expression and in protein synthesis. His personal contribution was not so widely known outside the cognoscenti because he did not put his name on the publications
In 1968, Watson was offered and accepted the position of Director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Spring_Harbor_Laboratory> . Newly married to Elizabeth Lewis in 1968, together they made their residence in the beautiful old whaling village on the North Shore of Long Island, New York.
This once fine institution of science was in a dilapidated state, financially impoverished and unattractive to aspiring young scientists. He transformed it into one of the leading institutions for biological research in the world. He restored dilapidated buildings and he built new laboratories. Creating advanced research programmes in molecular investigation of cell function, virology and cancer, he attracted there the brightest and best of senior scientists and graduate students. The scientific output was prodigious making major contributions particularly to understanding the genetics of cancer. Discoveries of great and far reaching significance would include tumour suppressor genes and gene splicing.
Dr Watson has served the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in several capacities since 1968 - Director, President, Chancellor and currently he is Chancellor Emeritus. He articulates that the present day mission is "dedication to exploring molecular biology and genetics in order to advance the understanding and ability to diagnose and treat cancers, neurological diseases, and other causes of human suffering”. We are indeed fortunate as there is now the beginnings of collaborations and joint research programmes in cancer between the Leslie Quick Laboratories in the Cork Cancer Research Centre and Cold Spring Harbour.
An accomplished author, his books The Molecular Biology of the Gene and The Molecular Biology of the Cell significantly influenced the worldwide teaching and propagation of molecular biology, The Double Helix, an account of the events that led to one of the greatest discoveries became a classic, DNA the secret of life was released on the anniversary of the double helix, and Avoid Boring People, is a personal and humorous account on the making of a scientist.
His achievements have been honoured by numerous awards and honorary degrees. In 1962 he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins for elucidating the structure of DNA. Among many other honours, Dr Watson was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, The National Medal of Science, an honorary Knighthood of the British Empire and Honorary Membership of the Royal Irish Academy.
It is clear that there is much more to Watson than being an accomplished scientist and academic. He is a man of courage and principle who has campaigned against war, against nuclear proliferation and against financial exploitation of the human genome. He is a committed environmentalist and his wise council is continuously sought; he serves on numerous international scientific advisory boards. He is much in demand for his writings and lectures. He has a continued interest in the arts and music and he keeps remarkably fit – he continues to play a good game of tennis.
The consequences of research on DNA and gene expression not just on humans but on diverse life forms and the human utilization of this knowledge ensure an exciting future. Hopefully mankind will also constructively use its increasing technical capability to live peacefully. If so, the humans in future millennia may not know of many from our time but they will know of the structure of DNA and of Watson and Crick as by then the ramifications of its discovery will have impinged on life in ways that we cannot yet imagine.
Some are fearful of change, but with due consideration, others accept the challenge. We know which path Dr. Watson would choose. We are deeply honoured that this path has lead Dr Watson to Cork Cancer Research Centre and to our University today and I am privileged to present him for The Doctorate of Science Honoris Causa of the National University of Ireland.
Praehonorabilis Pro Vice Cancellarie, totaque universitas:
Praesento vobis hunc meum filium quem scio tam moribus quam doctrina habilem et idoneum esse qui admittatur, honoris causa, ad gradum Doctoratus Scientiae, idque tibi fide mea testor ac spondeo totique Academiae.
Picture L-R: Dr Michael Murphy, President, UCC and Pro Vice Chancellor, NUI with Nobel Laureate, Dr James Watson and Professor Gerald O’Sullivan, Director of the Cork Cancer Research Centre at UCC.
