DNA pioneer James Watson is to sell the Nobel Prize he won for his co-discovery of the double helix structure, the building block of life. The coveted gold medal is expected to go under the hammer for up to $3.5 million in a sale at Christie's in New York on December 4. It will be the first time a Nobel Prize has been sold by a living recipient. Watson, now 85, was awarded the medal for work in the field of physiology or medicine alongside fellow scientists Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins in 1962. The scientist's notes for his acceptance speech at the Nobel ceremony in Stockholm and the manuscript of his Nobel lecture are also on offer at the auction.
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James Watson, co-discoverer of DNA, to sell Nobel Prize medal he won in 1962
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Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins won for work on double helix structure
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Auction will be the first time a Nobel Prize has been sold by a living recipient
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Gold medal is expected to go under hammer for $2.5 million to $3.5 million
In 1953, the pair came to the conclusion that @placeholder was formed by two twisted strands of molecules, like the rungs of a ladder, holding the iconic double helix structure together.