Last week Dr. James D. Watson, the co-discoverer of the DNA structure, gave a very provocative talk at Harvard University where he recommended that the world embark on a program of preventative eugenics to eliminate the schizophrenia gene. He also suggested that mathematicians shouldn’t have children with other mathematicians.
I have a friend who was at the talk. She was shocked. But she was also surprised that nobody covered the talk.
Well, in today’s Harvard Crimson there is a brief article about Watson’s statements.
“I like to believe that we could find the right drug,” said Watson, who was part of the team that discovered the double-helix structure of DNA. “But my son can’t take care of himself…[we should] fight against genetic injustice.”
Apparently, Dr. Watson wishes that his son was never born.
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