Paul Nurse
Paul Nurse
Sir Paul Maxime Nurse FRS FREng, is an English geneticist, former President of the Royal Society and Chief Executive and Director of the Francis Crick Institute. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Leland Hartwell and Tim Hunt for their discoveries of protein molecules that control the divisionof cells in the cell cycle...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth25 January 1949
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My time as an undergraduate at Birmingham was extremely stimulating both as a biologist and also for my more general intellectual development.
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I enjoyed my time at primary school because my teachers made the world seem such an interesting place and encouraged my innate curiosity.
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It was now 1980 and Anne and myself had two little children Sarah and Emily, and we were wondering whether to stay permanently in Edinburgh.
associated british-scientist guinness laboratory left local meant school technician work
This meant that when I left school I had to work as a technician in a microbiological laboratory associated with the local Guinness brewery.
although astronomy british-scientist interest regularly telescope
My life-long interest in astronomy started then and I still regularly use a telescope for astronomical observations, although very much as an amateur.
british-scientist chair complete edinburgh offered southern surprise university
At the end of the 1980s as a complete surprise my old Edinburgh friend, Ed Southern offered me the Chair of Microbiology at the University of Oxford.
british-scientist pivotal
My 6 years with Murdoch were pivotal for my entire research career.
biology british-scientist cells gene issue key terms time workers
A key issue in developmental biology at that time was the problem of how cells underwent differentiation, with most workers concentrating on explanations in terms of changes in enzyme and gene regulation.
might sake way
It has been a privilege to pursue knowledge for its own sake and to see how it might help mankind in more practical ways.
interviews weakness degrees
After an extensive interview he arranged for my weaknesses in foreign languages to be over-looked and so I started a Biology degree at Birmingham in 1967.
cells important might
Therefore, I reasoned that study of the cell cycle responsible for the reproduction of cells was important and might even be illuminating about the nature of life.
dark winter long
This possibility bothered me as I thought it was not advisable to remain in one academic environment, and the long dark winters in Edinburgh could be rather dismal.
research birmingham projects
This time at Birmingham turned me into a general biologist, and ever since then I have always tried to take a biological approach to any research project that I have undertaken.
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I had a great time investigating the pigments of different mutant fruit flies by following experimental protocols published in Scientific American, and I also remember making my own beetle collection when it was still acceptable to make such collections.