Man accused of racism has black genes

NEW YORK, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- A U.S. scientist who was fired in New York after suggesting blacks are less intelligent than whites likely had a black ancestor, a genome analysis has found.

A genome analysis performed on the DNA of James Watson, a 1962 Nobel Prize winner in medicine who was fired from a New York research laboratory after suggesting black Africans are not as intelligent as whites, found that 16 percent of the scientist's genes likely came from a black ancestor of African descent, The Independent reported Monday.

The company that performed the analysis, deCODE Genetics, said people of European descent would be expected to have no more than 1 percent of genes that suggest African ancestry.

"This level is what you would expect in someone who had a great-grandparent who was African," said Kari Stefansson of deCODE Genetics. "It was very surprising to get this result for Jim."

The test indicated that an additional 9 percent of Watson's genes appear to come from an ancestor of Asian descent.

Watson, who allowed his gene analysis to be published on the Internet, was not available for comment, The Times reported in London.