Watson, James D. "A Personal View of the Project," in Daniel J. Kevles and Leroy Hood, eds. The Code of Codes: Scientific and Social Issues in the Human Genome Project. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992. pp. 164-173.

In this essay, James Watson, 1962 Nobel prize winner who discovered the structure of DNA, argues that the answer to what it is that makes us distinctly human is in our DNA. He ponders the current furore over the ethics of the Human Genome Project (HGP) (he is the project’s director) and argues that it is backlash. The most fundamental reason why no one should oppose the project is that it promises to tell us something about diseases. He argues that real ethics demand considering whether this money is being spent on the most likely avenue towards the eradication of disease. The "fact is" he argues, it provides "enormous" advantage over other methods, and he would not bet on finding a cure for Alzheimers, or manic-depression, or alcoholism without it (166). "Ignoring the gene is like trying to solve a murder without finding the murderer. All we have is the victims" (167).

As a "pure" scientist, Watson argues against patenting of DNA and argues that it should be freely circulated for anyone who seriously wants it. As for the enormous funding that the HGP requires, he maintains that "The Human Genome Project is sufficiently justifiable that if no other country wants to help fund it, the United States should do the whole thing" (170). He addresses some of the ethical quandaries raised by stating that DNA information should be protected under an individual's right to privacy and that genetic discrimination can and should be overcome by legislative means. These ethics must be resolved, however, not so much because they are particularly interesting or pressing, but because failing to do so may result in a sabotage of the project. Watson argues finally that "We have to convince our fellow citizens somehow that there will be more advantages to knowing the human than to not knowing it" (173).

See also Cooper, The Human Genome Project: Deciphering the Blueprint of Heredity; Gillis, "The Patent Question of the Year"; Keller, "Nature, Nurture, and the Human Genome Project"; Lewontin,"The Dream of the Human Genome" and Miringoff, The Social Costs of Genetic Welfare.