For proposing the double helical structure of DNA, James Watson and Francis Crick, together with Maurice Wilkins, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962.

While at Harvard, Watson wrote the seminal text, Molecular Biology of the Gene. He has also generated a best-selling autobiographical volume, The Double Helix, and recently published DNA: The Secret of Life.

Watson was a driving force behind the Human Genome Project. Among other honors, Watson was elected in 1962 to the National Academy of Sciences and, in 1977, received from President Ford the Medal of Freedom. Watson received the National Medal of Science in December 1997; the Philadelphia Liberty Medal on July 4, 2000; and the Benjamin Franklin Medal awarded by the American Philosophical Society. Queen Elizabeth II proclaimed him an honorary Knight of the British Empire on January 1, 2002.