Watson: ‘DNA was my only gold rush’

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Cold Spring Harbor, New York (CNN) -- At 85, James Watson still plays tennis every week. His hips and knees haven't given out yet, he says, and he likes grass courts.

"I try and play people who can hit the ball hard," he said Tuesday at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a Long Island, New York, research institution he directed for 25 years.

Watson has always gone up against tough competition, especially in science. Most famously, in 1953, he and Francis Crick figured out that DNA, the molecule of life, has a double helix structure, beating their rival Linus Pauling to the answer.

Solving the DNA structure set the stage for the foundation of much of modern biology, as scientists use insights about DNA to develop disease treatments, trace the inheritance of physical traits and explore how conditions can be passed down from generation to generation.

Having shared the Nobel Prize for the discovery with Crick and Maurice Wilkins in 1962, who are now both deceased, Watson is aware that he perhaps has no competitor in the title of most famous living scientist.

"That's really saying, there's not been another DNA," he said, clad in khaki Bermuda shorts, beige socks and brown loafers. "All you can say is that you were very lucky. You were born at the right time and your parents gave you books when you were young."

Early life

Milestones in genetics

Milestones in genetics

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Watson: 'DNA was my only gold rush'