Paul Nurse | |
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| Chancellor of theUniversity of Bristol | |
| Assumed office 2017 | |
| President | Hugh Brady |
| Preceded by | The Baroness Hale of Richmond |
| 61st President of the Royal Society | |
| In office 1 December 2010 – 1 December 2015 | |
| Preceded by | The Lord Rees of Ludlow |
| Succeeded by | Venkatraman Ramakrishnan |
| 9th President ofRockefeller University | |
| In office 2003–2011 | |
| Preceded by | Arnold Levine |
| Succeeded by | Marc Tessier-Lavigne |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Paul Maxime Nurse (1949-01-25)25 January 1949 (age 76)[1] |
| Spouse | [1] |
| Children | 2 daughters[1] |
| Website | Francis Crick Institute - Paul Nurse |
| Scientific career | |
| Education | |
| Awards |
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| Fields | |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | The spatial and temporal organisation of amino acid pools in Candida utilis (1974) |
| Doctoral advisor | Anthony P. Sims[3] |
| Doctoral students | Alison Woollard[4] |
Sir Paul Maxime Nurse (born 25 January 1949) is an Englishgeneticist, formerPresident of the Royal Society and Chief Executive and Director of theFrancis Crick Institute.[5][6][7] He was awarded the 2001Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, along withLeland Hartwell andTim Hunt, for their discoveries of protein molecules that control the division of cells in thecell cycle.[8]
Nurse's mother went from London toNorwich and lived with relatives while awaiting Paul's birth (at the age of 18)[9] in order to hideillegitimacy. For the rest of their lives, his maternal grandmother pretended to be his mother, and his mother pretended to be his sister.[10]
Paul was brought up by his grandparents (whom he took to be his parents) in North West London.[9] He was educated at Lyon Park school inAlperton andHarrow County Grammar School.[1] He received hisBSc degree inBiology in 1970 from theUniversity of Birmingham[11] and hisPhD degree in 1973 from theUniversity of East Anglia for research onCandida utilis.[3] He then pursued postdoctoral work at theUniversity of Bern, theUniversity of Edinburgh and theUniversity of Sussex.
Nurse did not know that his "sister" was in fact his mother until he was in his 50s. His "parents" had both already died and his "sister" Miriam, eighteen years his senior, had died early ofmultiple sclerosis. His application for agreen card for US residency while president ofRockefeller University was, to his surprise, rejected, despite him being aNobel Prize winner, president of a university and a knight; this was because he had submitted a short-formUK birth certificate which did not name his parents. When he applied for a full birth certificate he discovered the truth, to his astonishment.[9][12]Professor Turi King traced his father for him in 2023.[13]
Nurse continued hispostdoctoral research at the laboratory ofMurdoch Mitchison at theUniversity of Edinburgh for the next six years (1973–1979).[14][15]
Beginning in 1976, Nurse identified the genecdc2 infission yeast[16][17] (Schizosaccharomyces pombe). This gene controls the progression of the cell cycle fromG1 phase toS phase and the transition fromG2 phase tomitosis. In 1987, Nurse identified the homologous gene in human,Cdk1, which codes for acyclin dependent kinase.[18]
Working in fission yeast, Nurse identified the gene cdc2, which controls the transition from G1 to S, when the cell grows in preparation for the duplication of DNA, and G2 to M, when the cell divides. With his postdocMelanie Lee, Nurse also found the corresponding gene, CDK1, in humans. These genes stop and start cyclin dependent kinase (CDK) by adding or removing phosphate groups.[19]
In 1984, Nurse joined theImperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF, nowCancer Research UK). He left in 1988 to chair the department of microbiology at theUniversity of Oxford. He then returned to the ICRF as Director of Research in 1993, and in 1996 was named Director General of the ICRF, which became Cancer Research UK in 2002. In 2003, he became president ofRockefeller University inNew York City[20] where he continued work on the cell cycle of fission yeast. In 2011 Nurse became the first Director and Chief Executive of theUK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation,[21] now theFrancis Crick Institute.
On 30 November 2010, Nurse succeeded astrophysicistMartin Rees for a five-year term asPresident of the Royal Society until 2015.
Nurse has said good scientists must have passion "to know the answer to the questions" that interest them, along with good technical ability, and a set of attitudes including mental honesty, self-criticism, open-mindedness and scepticism.[22]
In addition to the Nobel Prize, Nurse has received numerous awards and honours. He was elected anEMBO Member in 1987[23] and aFellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1989[24][25] and the Founder Member of theAcademy of Medical Sciences in 1998. In 1995, he was awarded the Pezcoller-AACR International Award.[26] he received aRoyal Medal and became a foreign associate of the U.S.National Academy of Sciences. He received theAlbert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 1998. Nurse wasknighted in 1999. He was awarded the FrenchLegion d'Honneur and the Golden Plate Award of theAmerican Academy of Achievement in 2002.[27] He was also awarded theCopley Medal in 2005. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences – one of the top honours – in April 2006. He is a member of the Advisory Council for theCampaign for Science and Engineering.[28] Nurse is the 2007 recipient of the Hope Funds Award of Excellence in Basic Research. He is a Freeman of the London Borough of Harrow. In 2013, he was awarded theAlbert Einstein World Award of Science by theWorld Cultural Council.[29] In 2015, he was elected a foreign academician of theChinese Academy of Sciences,[30] and won the 10th annual Henry G. Friesen International Prize in Health Research, in Ottawa, Canada.[31][32] He was appointedMember of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the2022 New Year Honours for services to science and medicine in the UK and abroad.[33] In November 2022 he was appointed to the Order of Merit.[34]
Nurse has received over 60 Honorary Degrees and Fellowships, including from theUniversity of Bath in 2002, theUniversity of Oxford in 2003, theUniversity of Cambridge in 2003, theUniversity of Kent in 2012, theUniversity of Warwick (Doctor of Science)[35] theUniversity of Worcester[36] (Doctor of Science) in 2013,City, University of London[37] (Doctor of Science) in 2014 andMcGill University[38] (Doctor of Science) in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded an honorary degree from theMendel University in Brno in the Czech Republic.[39]
He was also appointed anHonorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (HonFREng) in 2012[40] and Honorary Fellow of the British Association (HonFBA) in 2013.[41] In July 2016 it was announced that he would become the next Chancellor of theUniversity of Bristol.[42][43] He is an Honorary Liveryman of theWorshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers.[44] On 23 November 2024 he was elected the 169th President ofThe Birmingham & Midland Institute by its members. In 2023 Sir Paul Nurse was awarded theDalton Medal of theManchester Literary and Philosophical Society.
Nurse married Anne Teresa (née Talbott) in 1971; they have two daughters – Sarah, who works forITV, and Emily,[45] a physicist based atUniversity College London andCERN.[46][1] He describes himself as a sceptical agnostic.[14]
Nurse has been a member of theLabour Party for nearly 40 years and is a patron ofScientists for Labour, asocialist society affiliated to them.[47] In September 2020, he was a co-author on a letter inNature alongside the former prime ministerGordon Brown highlighting the importance ofEU funding in the fight againstCOVID-19.[48]
As an undergraduate student at Birmingham, Nurse soldSocialist Worker, and participated in an occupation of the vice-chancellor's office.[46][49] As a graduate student at East Anglia he continued to sellSocialist Worker, and was sympathetic to theInternational Socialist Tendency but never formally joined the movement.[50]
Nurse has criticised potentialRepublican Party candidates for the US presidential nomination for opposing the teaching ofnatural selection,stem cell research on cell lines from human embryos, andanthropogenic climate change, even partially blaming scientists for not speaking up.[51] He was alarmed that this could happen in the US, a world leader in science, "the home ofBenjamin Franklin,Richard Feynman andJim Watson".[51]
One problem, Nurse said, was "treating scientific discussion as if it were political debate," using rhetorical tricks rather than logic. Another was the state of science teaching in the schools, which does not teach citizens how to discuss science – particularly in religious schools, even in the United Kingdom.[51] Nurse has written that "we need to emphasise why the scientific process is such a reliable generator of knowledge with its respect for evidence, for scepticism, for consistency of approach, for the constant testing of ideas."[51] Furthermore, Nurse feels that scientific leaders "have a responsibility to expose the bunkum". They should take on politicians, and expose nonsense during elections.[51]
In August 2014, Nurse was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter toThe Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September'sreferendum on that issue.[52]
Nurse believes that scientists should speak out about science in public affairs and challenge politicians who support policies based onpseudoscience.[53]
, accessed 28 April 2020 including the Nobel Lecture Nobel Lecture 9 December 2001Controlling the Cell Cycle
including the Nobel Lecture Nobel Lecture 9 December 2001Controlling the Cell Cycle| Professional and academic associations | ||
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| Preceded by | 61st President of theRoyal Society 2010–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by | 9th President ofRockefeller University 2003–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chancellor of theUniversity of Bristol 2017–present | Incumbent |
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