In an intriguing election-year twist, James Watson, the renowned biologist who made headlines last October when he told the Sunday Times that people of African descent were less intelligent than white people, has supported a person of African descent for President of the United States, according to the website opensecrets.org. Watson contributed $2,300 to the Barack Obama campaign this January. Other prominent scientists making contributions in what is shaping up to be a highly charged election year include Sloan-Kettering Memorial Cancer Center president Harold Varmus (who has donated to the Obama, Richardson, and Clinton presidential campaigns in the past year) and genomics pioneer and The Scientist editorial board member Craig Venter (who donated $2,300 to the Clinton campaign last year, but most recently donated $1,000 to the Obama campaign).