In this biography
Quick facts
- Born
- 1949
- Birthplace
- Norwich, England, United Kingdom
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Nationality
- Not independently established
- Known for
- Genetic control of cell division
Why this life matters
His work connected yeast division mutants with conserved cell-cycle control.
Timeline
Key moments
Size and division
A fission-yeast mutant divides at unusually small size.
Nobel Prize
Nurse shares the prize with Hartwell and Hunt.
From growing cells to dividing cells
Nurse’s early research led him to the question of how a cell moves from growth to division. In his Nobel lecture he traces that interest through work with Murdoch Mitchison’s group in Edinburgh, where fission yeast offered a tractable organism. The rod-shaped cells lengthen and divide across the middle, giving researchers a visible measurement for comparing cells at the same point in the cycle.
Sources for this section: [1]
The unusual small cells
The abstract of Nurse’s 1975 paper reports a temperature-sensitive yeast mutant whose cells divided at about half the normal size. The result changed the problem from describing an average size to testing the steps that enforce it. The paper distinguishes a size control associated with DNA synthesis from a second one affecting nuclear division. A small cell under the microscope was thus an entry to a problem of timing.
Why the model mattered
Fission yeast made it possible to pursue a distinct phenotype through controlled crosses and measurements instead of treating cell division as a single event. In reflecting on scientific practice, Nurse describes the value of scientists bringing different contributions to a shared problem. The history is a useful introduction to how a result in a model organism can support a broader investigation while leaving the cross-species evidence to be tested.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions about Paul Nurse
- Why did Nurse study yeast?
- Its genetic variants and visibly measurable cells let researchers investigate when cell-cycle events occur.
Keep exploring
Lives connected to this story
- Mary Lyon
Compare how an unexpected visible trait opens a genetic question.
- Nettie Stevens
Compare chromosome observations at defined stages of cell division.
- Martin J. Evans
Explore Martin J. Evans’s related research on embryonic stem cells.
- Leland H. Hartwell
Explore Leland H. Hartwell’s related research on cell cycle.
- Tim Hunt
Explore Tim Hunt’s related research on cyclins.
Sources and further reading
Explore the evidence
These references support the biography and offer further reading. Official records, first-person accounts and independent reporting provide different perspectives; image records document attribution and licensing.
- 1. Paul Nurse, Nobel Foundation, 2001Paul Nurse: Nobel lecture
- 2. Paul Nurse, Nature, 1975Genetic control of cell size at cell division in yeast
The accessible abstract supports the size finding and reported inference; the lecture supplies retrospective context.
- 3. Nobel AssemblyThe Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2001
- 4. Nobel Prize OutreachSir Paul Nurse: Interview
