by Lee Hurley

Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov will return the Noble Prize that he purchased for $4.8m to the geneticist James Watson who sold it to raise money for scientific research.

The medal was awarded to Watson in 1962 along with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins for their discovery of the double helical structure of DNA, but Watson sold his in 2014 and it was Usmanov who purchased it at auction.

LONDON - NOVEMBER 07: Russian Oligarch Alisher Usmanov is pictured in front of JMW Turner's painting ' The Harbour of Brest ' in the Tate Britain art gallery on November 7, 2008 in London, England. The Pushkin Museum in Moscow is hosting a major exhibition of works by JMW Turner on loan from Tate Britain thanks to it's sole sponsor, Alisher Usmanov. Mr Usmanov who is a major shareholder in the Russian industrial conglomerate, Metalloinvest, as well as Arsenal Football Club, is reported to have a personal fortune of approximately 2.7bn GBP. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
LONDON – NOVEMBER 07: Russian Oligarch Alisher Usmanov is pictured in front of JMW Turner’s painting ‘ The Harbour of Brest ‘ in the Tate Britain art gallery on November 7, 2008 in London, England. The Pushkin Museum in Moscow is hosting a major exhibition of works by JMW Turner on loan from Tate Britain thanks to it’s sole sponsor, Alisher Usmanov. Mr Usmanov who is a major shareholder in the Russian industrial conglomerate, Metalloinvest, as well as Arsenal Football Club, is reported to have a personal fortune of approximately 2.7bn GBP. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

“It is important for me that the money that I spent on this medal will go to supporting scientific research, and the medal will stay with the person who deserved it,” Usmanov said after purchasing the medal.

“I wouldn’t like the medal of the distinguished scientist to be an object on sale.”

Watson is in Moscow where he will hold an open lecture at the Russian Academy of Sciences on 17th June and it is expected that the medal will be returned during a special ceremony.

After the discovery which wrote his name into the history books, Watson devoted his life to cancer research, namely treatments. Usmanov’s father died from cancer.

It’s safe to say that I’m not an admirer of Usmanov. His history is not one that is palatable.

That being said, this is a remarkable gesture.