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Russian tycoon Alisher Usmanov has revealed that he bought James Watson’s Nobel Prize gold medal, and intends to return it to him.

Steel and telecoms tycoon Alisher Usmanov said James Watson “deserved” the medal, and that he was “distressed” the scientist had felt forced to sell it.

The medal, awarded in 1962 for the discovery of the structure of DNA, sold for $4.8 million at auction.

The medal was the first Nobel Prize to be put on sale by a living recipient.

The 1962 prize was awarded to James Watson, along with Maurice Wilkins and Francis Crick, with each receiving a gold medal.James Watson's Nobel Prize gold medal

James Watson, 86, has said he planned to donate part of the proceeds to charities and to support scientific research.

In an interview with the Financial Times recently, James Watson said he had been made to feel like an “unperson” since a Sunday Times interview seven years ago in which he linked race to intelligence.

Alisher Usmanov said in a statement that he was the anonymous telephone bidder who bought the medal at a Christie’s auction last week.

“In my opinion, a situation in which an outstanding scientist has to sell a medal recognizing his achievements is unacceptable,” he added.

“James Watson is one of the greatest biologists in the history of mankind and his award for the discovery of DNA structure must belong to him.”

Alisher Usmanov, said by Forbes magazine to be worth $15.8 billion, is a major shareholder in Arsenal football club and was named Britain’s wealthiest man in the Sunday Times rich list for 2013.

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James Watson’s Nobel Prize gold medal has sold for $4.8 million at a Christie’s auction.

The 1962 prize was awarded to James Watson, Maurice Wilkins and Francis Crick for discovering the structure of DNA, with each receiving a gold medal.

The medal is the first Nobel Prize to be put on sale by a living recipient.

James Watson, 86, recently said he was selling the medal because he had been ostracized by the scientific community after remarks he made about race in a 2007 interview.James Watson Nobel Prize medal

The discovery of the structure of DNA – which encodes the instruction booklet for building a living organism – was made by James Watson and Francis Crick, using experimental data that had been gathered by Maurice Wilkins, Raymond Gosling and Rosalind Franklin.

James Watson said he planned to donate part of the proceeds to charities and to support scientific research.

Christie’s auction house had said the gold medal could fetch between $2.5 million and $3.5 million.

In an interview with the Financial Times recently, James Watson said he had been made to feel like an “unperson” since a Sunday Times interview seven years ago in which he linked race to intelligence.

Francis Crick’s Nobel medal sold for $2.2 million in 2013. He died in 2004.

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