AsianScientist (Jan. 20, 2015) – Being a molecular biologist in the 1960s and 1970s was a “wonderful time” because so little was known then, said Professor Sir Timothy Hunt.
Speaking at the Global Young Scientists Summit (GYSS@one-north 2015), which is taking place from 18-23 January 2015 at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, the 2001 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine told a 300-strong crowd of aspiring young scientists what it took him to win a Nobel Prize: aptitude, the right environment and a little lady luck.
“The main thing about discoveries is, they are lucky,” he quipped, referring to the discoveries he made on cell cycle regulation that won him the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine together with Leland Hartwell and Sir Paul Nurse.
Even the publication of an initial observation that ultimately led to him winning the Nobel Prize was a roll of the dice. The manuscript was rejected by a referee with the comment ‘wild speculation based on faulty logic’, but accepted by the other referees, Sir Tim Hunt recalled.
Aptitude & environment
Growing up as the son of a medieval historian in Oxford, UK, Sir Tim Hunt’s interest in biology was fueled by a brilliant science teacher and the ease at which he was able to pass his biology exams.
“I was good at biology and not bad at chemistry either,” he said. “It just came naturally and I never had to worry about any career decisions afterwards. In a way I was incredibly lucky; the early 60’s were a wonderful time to get started in biochemistry and molecular biology because so little was known.”
Spending much of his scientific career at the University of Cambridge, where several of the most important discoveries of the 20th century – such as the discovery of the DNA double helix – had taken place, was an incredibly inspiring experience, according to Sir Tim Hunt. This exceptional scientific environment enabled him to work with “an astonishing pool of incredibly talented people who studied interesting things.”
“The trick in science is to always find people to work with who are more clever than you are,” he said, passing on sage advice to the audience that he had once received.
He was very successful in following this advice when he came to work across the road from the hallowed Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, UK, home to some of the greatest scientists of our time, Nobel Laureates such as Francis Crick, Fred Sanger, James Watson, Max Perutz and Sydney Brenner.
“You could sit at the table in the canteen and listen to Francis Crick explaining the latest new thing about nucleosomes,” Sir Tim Hunt remembered. “We had the example of these people who hadn’t been afraid to tackle the really important problems.”
Having received both the best advice and also the best criticism a young scientist could possibly get from these mentors, Sir Tim Hunt was motivated to tackle what he thought was a really interesting problem: how cells controlled protein synthesis and cell division.
From fantasy to fanfare
Working with sea urchin and clam eggs in 1982 during a summer stint at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, US, Sir Tim Hunt’s studies began to indicate the presence and function of cyclins, which he named after his passion for cycling.
But it was inexplicable to him why the cyclins would disappear around the ten-minute mark before each cell division. In his Nobel Prize biography, Sir Tim Hunt recalled thinking that the cyclins were “a complete fantasy” of his.
Thankfully, Sir Tim Hunt’s team finally cloned the gene responsible for cyclin in 1986. The data helped him describe the elegant mechanism by which cyclins controlled the cell-cycle: destruction of the cyclins by enzymes called cyclin-dependent kinases released the cell into the next phase of the cell cycle, akin to a “go” signal. The discovery of cyclins won Sir Tim Hunt the Nobel Prize in 2001. Other accolades include the Royal Medal in 2006, and being knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in the same year.
Sir Tim Hunt’s final message for his audience was that science discoveries often do not follow a linear path.
“The path of science rarely leads in a straight direction. As a researcher you have to have faith that the road you follow actually is going somewhere, because there are no maps for guidance,” Sir Tim Hunt mused. “In this business, you are your own map maker, that’s why science is such an interesting thing to do.”
Asian Scientist Magazine is a media partner of the Global Young Scientists Summit (GYSS@one-north 2015), taking place from 18-23 January, 2015 at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. GYSS@one-north 2015 is organized by the National Research Foundation of Singapore in collaboration with its partners.
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Copyright: Asian Scientist Magazine.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.
