Nobelist Honored at Cinema Arts Centre

While patrons were honoring Dr. James Watson at the Cinema Arts Centre Wednesday night, two people stood outside, protesting the Nobel-winning scientist and some of his views.

Watson, co-discoverer of the double helix structure of DNA and chancellor emeritus of the Cold Spring Harbor Lab, was on hand for a reception and showing of the 1987 movie, The Race for the Double Helix. A question and answer session and a book signing to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the discovery were also scheduled.

The two protesters declined to state their views or identify themselves, referring only to an episode called Pandora's Box from a PBS series on DNA. "His views are both extraordinary and extremely controversial. Watson argues for a new kind of eugenics -- where parents are allowed to choose the DNA of their children -- to make them healthier, more intelligent, even better looking. His vision may be disagreeable, yet it's a natural consequence of the decades of scientific exploration," PBS says.

Watson and Francis Crick made their discovery in 1953 and, with Maurice Wilkins, were awarded the 1962  Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.