Paul Nurse
Arnold Levine | |
---|---|
Succeeded by | Marc Tessier-Lavigne |
Personal details | |
Born | Paul Maxime Nurse 25 January 1949[1] Norwich, Norfolk, England |
Spouse |
Anne Teresa Talbott (m. 1971) |
Children | 2 daughters[1] |
Website | Francis Crick Institute - Paul Nurse |
Alma mater |
|
Awards |
|
Scientific career | |
Fields | |
Institutions | |
Thesis | The spatial and temporal organisation of amino acid pools in Candida utilis (1974) |
Doctoral advisor | Anthony P. Sims[4] |
Doctoral students | Alison Woollard[5] |
Sir Paul Maxime Nurse
Early life and education
Nurse's mother went from London to
Paul was brought up by his grandparents (whom he took to be his parents) in North West London.
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 of multiple sclerosis. His application for a green card for US residency while president of Rockefeller University was, to his surprise, rejected, despite his being a Nobel Prize winner, president of a university and a knight; this was because he had submitted a short-form UK birth certificate which did not name his parents. When he applied for a full birth certificate he discovered the truth, to his astonishment.[10][13]
Career and research
Nurse continued his
Beginning in 1976, Nurse identified the gene
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 postdoc Melanie 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 the
On 30 November 2010, Nurse succeeded astrophysicist Martin Rees for a five-year term as President 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]
Awards and honours
In addition to the Nobel Prize, Nurse has received numerous awards and honours. He was elected an
Nurse has received over 60 Honorary Degrees and Fellowships, including from the University of Bath in 2002, the University of Oxford in 2003, the University of Cambridge in 2003, the University of Kent in 2012, the University of Warwick (Doctor of Science)[34] the University of Worcester[35] (Doctor of Science) in 2013, City, University of London[36] (Doctor of Science) in 2014 and McGill University[37] (Doctor of Science) in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded an honorary degree from the Mendel University in Brno in the Czech Republic.[38]
He was also appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (HonFREng) in 2012[39] and Honorary Fellow of the British Association (HonFBA) in 2013.[40] In July 2016 it was announced that he will be the next Chancellor of the University of Bristol.[41][42] He is an Honorary Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers.[43]
Personal life
Nurse married Anne Teresa (née Talbott) in 1971; they have two daughters – Sarah, who works for ITV, and Emily,[44] a physicist based at University College London and CERN.[45][1] He describes himself as a sceptical agnostic.[14]
Political views
Nurse has been a member of the
As an undergraduate student at Birmingham, Nurse sold Socialist Worker, and participated in an occupation of the vice-chancellor's office.[45][48] As a graduate student at East Anglia he continued to sell Socialist Worker, and was sympathetic to the International Socialist Tendency but never formally joined the movement.[49]
Nurse has criticised potential
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.[50] 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."[50] Furthermore, Nurse feels that scientific leaders "have a responsibility to expose the bunkum". They should take on politicians, and expose nonsense during elections.[50]
In August 2014, Nurse was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.[51]
Nurse believes that scientists should speak out about science in public affairs and challenge politicians who support policies based on pseudoscience.[52]
Books
- What Is Life?: Five Great Ideas in Biology (2021), W. W. Norton & Company[53]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e "NURSE, Sir Paul (Maxime)". Who's Who. Vol. 2014 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ a b "EMBO profile: Paul Nurse". people.embo.org.
- ^ "Professor Paul NURSE". Fondation Louis-Jeantet. October 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
- ^ EThOS uk.bl.ethos.467339.
- EThOS uk.bl.ethos.318479.
- S2CID 37007507.
- PMID 23828914.
- ^ Paul Nurse's publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2001". The Nobel Prize. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
- ^ TheGuardian.com. 9 August 2014.
- ^ Al-Khalili, Jim. "Paul Nurse - life and work". The Life Scientific. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
- ^ Our Alumni Archived 21 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine – website of the University of Birmingham
- ^ Andrew Anthony (15 August 2020). "Sir Paul Nurse: 'The UK has taken a leap several decades into the past'". The Guardian.
- ^ a b Paul Nurse on Nobelprize.org , accessed 28 April 2020 including the Nobel Lecture Nobel Lecture 9 December 2001 Controlling the Cell Cycle
- PMID 27270696.
- S2CID 24156567.
- S2CID 29840746.
- S2CID 4300190.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2001 - Illustrated Lecture". The Nobel Prize. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
- ^ Sample, Ian (17 September 2003). "Paul Nurse talks to Ian Sample about money, moustaches, and his move to Manhattan". The Guardian.
- ^ "Project Press Release". UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation web site. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Unavailable private video". youtube.com. Archived from the original on 14 October 2011.
- ^ "Fellowship of the Royal Society 1660–2015". Royal Society. Archived from the original on 15 October 2015.
- ^ Anon (1989). "EC/1989/23 Nurse, Sir Paul Maxime". London: The Royal Society. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014.
- ^ "THE PEZCOLLER FOUNDATION – AACR INTERNATIONAL AWARD AND THE NOBEL PRIZE". Fondazione Pezcoller - Pezcoller Foundation. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
- American Academy of Achievement.
- ^ "Advisory Council of the Campaign for Science and Engineering". Archived from the original on 28 August 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
- ^ "World Cultural Council 30th Award Ceremony". Nanyang Technological University. 2 October 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2013. [dead link]
- ^ "Announcement of the list of elected academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2015 关于公布2015年中国科学院院士增选当选院士名单的公告". Chinese Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
- ^ "The Eminent Dr. Nurse". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
- ^ "The 2015 Henry G. Friesen International Prize in Health Research is awarded to Sir Paul... – TORONTO, May 4, 2015". Cision - Friends of Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
- ^ "Order of the Companions of Honour". The London Gazette. 1 January 2022.
- ^ His Majesty The King (11 November 2022). "New Appointments to the Order of Merit". royal.uk. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
- ^ "Warwick honorary degrees for stars of Gavin & Stacey & Hustle, RSC & Royal Court Artistic Directors, scientists, historians, philanthropist & a US government adviser". University of Warwick. 28 June 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
- ^ "Worcester honorary degrees and Fellowships". University of Worcester. 21 November 2013. Archived from the original on 3 April 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
- ^ "Honorary graduates 2014". Archived from City University London website in Wayback Machine Internet Archive. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
- ^ "McGill Honorary Doctorates 2017". McGill University.
- ^ Polčáková, Petra (2 March 2020). "A top scientist very often moves on the edge of failure, says Nobelist Nurse". Universitas - magazine for universities. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
- ^ "List of Fellows". Archived from Royal Academy of Engineering on Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
- ^ "Our Honorary Fellows". British Science Association. 28 February 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
- ^ "University of Bristol press release". University of Bristol. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
- ^ "Sir Paul Nurse becomes Bristol University chancellor". BBC News. 1 January 2017.
- ^ "Honorary members - Honorary Liverymen of the Company". The Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
- ORCID 0000-0001-6905-1285
- ^ a b McKie, Robin (24 October 2010). "Paul Nurse: Home truths for the gene genius". theguardian.com. London: The Observer. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
- ^ "About SFL".
- PMID 32963368.
- ^ Brooks, Michael (9 June 2011). "The Science Interview – Paul Nurse". New Statesman. London: Progressive Media International. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
- ^ "Somehow, I knew I'd see you again, you bastard". Times Higher Education. TES Global. 27 June 2003. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Stamp out anti-science; it's time to reject political movements that turn their backs on science, Paul Nurse, New Scientist, 17 September 2011
- ^ "Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories". The Guardian. London. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ^ Nurse, Paul. "Stamp out anti-science in US politics". New Scientist.
- ISBN 978-0393541151.
External links
- Paul Nurse on Nobelprize.org including the Nobel Lecture Nobel Lecture 9 December 2001 Controlling the Cell Cycle
- Stories told by Paul Nurse at The Moth
- Paul Nurse on the premiere episode of The Life Scientific (BBC Radio 4), originally aired: 11 Oct 2011, 30 minutes in length