(CNN) — James Watson, a renowned molecular biologist and one of the Nobel Prize winners for discovering the structure of DNA, died Thursday after a brief illness, according to a statement from his former employer.

He was 97.

His death was confirmed by a spokesperson with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he spent the bulk of his career, who cited he died following a brief illness.

Watson, whose mission it was to figure out what the molecule of life looks like, won a Nobel Prize for it in 1962. He later became the first director of the groundbreaking Human Genome Project and the first living recipient to sell a Nobel Prize, some of which went toward raising money for scientific research.

“I think early on, I wanted to do something important with my life. I still want to think about s

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