Sir paul nurse autobiography
Sir Paul Nurse: The True Superhero of Genetics With an Astonishing Origin Story
Paul quickly made amends for this enforced slow start to his academic career. Fortunately his time working in a brewery laboratory had not been entirely wasted, as his academic work also involved yeast. By the time he was 24 he was doing groundbreaking research into the genetic processes that control cell growth in fission yeast, a strain that is used in traditional brewing but is also of great interest to geneticists thanks to its single-cell composition. In he identified the gene cdc2 as the gene that governs the cell cycle process, taking a cell through its growth stages and then mitosis, the subdivision into two daughter cells. Over the next decade he led a growing laboratory of researchers who studied cdc2’s role and, by , were able to prove that cdc2 had a counterpart in the human body, known as cdk1, which performed the same role in controlling human cell reproduction.
Everything might not be hunky dory
Paul’s enormous contributions to the field of genetics led to endless awards, commendations and job offers. In he was awarded the Lasker prize, and the following year he was knighted, becoming Sir Paul Nurse. In , he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his genetic research, and two years later he accepted a position as the president of New York’s Rockefeller University, where he continued to work on the cell cycles of fission yeast. His tremendous success had elevated him to the top of his field, and as he would later describe it, everything appeared to be “all hunky dory”. His work had always involved a large amount of international travel, attending conferences and other academic events, but now that he was living in the US in the post-9/11 world of stringent airport security, it seemed sensible to apply for a green card to avoid lengthy immigration checks on his return to New York. He filed his application, and was perplexed when it Life is all around us, abundant and diverse. It is truly a marvel. But what does it actually mean to be alive, and how do we decide what is living and what is not? English geneticist and Nobel laureate (born ) Sir Paul Maxime Nurse (born 25 January ) is an English geneticist, former President of the Royal Society and Chief Executive and Director of the Francis Crick Institute. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, along with Leland Hartwell and Tim Hunt, for their discoveries of protein molecules that control the division of cells in the cell cycle. Nurse's mother went from London to Norwich and lived with relatives while awaiting Paul's birth (at the age of 18) in order to hide illegitimacy. For the rest of their lives, his maternal grandmother pretended to be his mother, and his mother pretended to be his sister. Paul was brought up by his grandparents (whom he took to be his parents) in North West London. He was educated at Lyon Park school in Alperton and Harrow County Grammar School. He received his BSc degree in Biology in from the University of Birmingham and his PhD degree in from the University of East Anglia for research on Candida utilis. He then pursued postdoctoral work at the University of Bern, the University of Edinburgh and the University 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 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. Nurse continue What Is Life?: Five Great Ideas in Biology
After a lifetime of studying life, Nobel Prize-winner Sir Paul Nurse, one of the world's leading scientists, has taken on the challenge of defining it. Written with great personality and charm, his accessible guide takes readers on a journey to discover biology's five great building blocks, demonstrates how biology has changed and is changing the world, and reveals where research is headed next.
To survive all the challenges that face the human race today - population growth, pandemics, food shortages, climate change - it is vital that we first understand what life is. Never before has the question 'What is life?' been answered with such insight, clarity, and humanity, and never at a time more urgent than now.
'Paul Nurse is about as distinguished a scientist as there could be. He is also a great communicator. This book explains, in a way that is both clear and elegant, how the processes of life unfold, and does as much as science can to answer the question posed by the title. It's also profoundly important, at a time when the world is connected so closely that any new illness can sweep from nation to nation with immense speed, that all of us - including politicians - should be as well-informed as possible. This book provides the sort of clarity and understanding that could save many thousands of lives. I learned a great deal, and I enjoyed the process enormously.'
-Sir Philip Pullman
'A nearly perfect guide to the wonder and complexity of existence.'
-Bill Bryson
'Nurse provides a concise, lucid response to an age-old question. His writing is not just informed by long experience, but also wise, visionary, and personal. I read the book in one sitting, and felt exhilarated by the end, as though I'd run for miles - from the author's own ga Paul Nurse
Early life and education
Career and research