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
british-scientist encouraged enjoyed innate primary school seem teachers time
I enjoyed my time at primary school because my teachers made the world seem such an interesting place and encouraged my innate curiosity.
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.
school boys age
At age 11 in 1960, I moved to an academic state secondary school, Harrow County Grammar School for Boys.
school abandoned my-time
It was during my time at secondary school that I abandoned religion.
jobs school asking-questions
How scientists go about their job: and it's a process, it's a question of asking questions, respecting observation, respecting experiment, having tentative explanations and then testing them.... There is a problem sometimes with how we teach science at schools. Because we sometimes teach it as if it has been chiseled in stone.
school effort parent
My parents were neither wealthy nor academic, but we lived comfortably and they were always extremely supportive of my academic efforts and aspirations, both at school and university.
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.
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.
british-scientist pivotal
My 6 years with Murdoch were pivotal for my entire research career.
brighton british-scientist decided excellent genetics good molecular reputation tradition university work
I decided that the University of Sussex in Brighton was a good place for this work because it had a strong tradition in bacterial molecular genetics and an excellent reputation in biology.
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.
anne british-scientist children sarah stay whether wondering
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.
analysis british-scientist cell cycle greater interest led molecular progress taken work
This progress in the molecular analysis of the cell cycle led to more interest being taken in my work and as a consequence to greater competition.
biologist birmingham both british-scientist extremely general time
My time as an undergraduate at Birmingham was extremely stimulating both as a biologist and also for my more general intellectual development.