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{{Short description|English geneticist and Nobel laureate (born 1949)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name             = Sir Paul Nurse
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|OM|CH|FRS|FMedSci|HonFREng|HonFBA|MAE|size=100%}} 
|image             = Paul Nurse portrait.jpg
|image_size        = 
|caption           = 
| title         = Chancellor of the [[University of Bristol]]
| term_start    = 2017
| term_end      = 
| president     = [[Hugh Brady (academic)|Hugh Brady]]
| predecessor   = [[The Baroness Hale of Richmond]]
| successor     = 
| title2        = [[President of the Royal Society]]
| order2        = 61st
| term_start2   = 1 December 2010
| term_end2     = 1 December 2015
| predecessor2  = [[Martin Rees|The Lord Rees of Ludlow]]
| successor2    = [[Venkatraman Ramakrishnan]]
| title3        = President of [[Rockefeller University]]
| order3        = 9th
| term_start3   = 2003
| term_end3     = 2011
| predecessor3  = [[Arnold Levine]]
| successor3    = [[Marc Tessier-Lavigne]]
|birth_name        = Paul Maxime Nurse
|birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1949|01|25|df=yes}}<ref name=whoswho>{{Who's Who | title=NURSE, Sir Paul (Maxime) | id = U29778 | volume = 2014 | edition = online [[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref>
|birth_place       = [[Norwich]], [[Norfolk]], England
|nationality       = British
|footnotes         = 
| website          = {{url|crick.ac.uk/research/a-z-researchers/researchers-k-o/paul-nurse/|Francis Crick Institute - Paul Nurse}}
| spouse           = {{marriage|Anne Teresa Talbott|1971}}<ref name=whoswho/>
| children         = 2 daughters<ref name=whoswho/>
| module            = 
  {{Infobox scientist | embed = yes
  |fields            = {{Plainlist|
* [[Genetics]]
* [[Cell biology]]
* [[Cell cycle]]}}
  |workplaces        = {{Plainlist|
* [[Royal Society]]
* [[Francis Crick Institute]]
* [[Rockefeller University]]
* [[University of Bristol]]
* [[University of Edinburgh]]
* [[University of Oxford]]
* [[Linacre College]]
* [[Imperial Cancer Research Fund]]
* [[Cancer Research UK]]
*[[University of Sussex]]}}
  |education        = {{Plainlist|
* [[University of Birmingham]] (BSc)
* [[University of East Anglia]] (PhD)}}
  |doctoral_advisor  = Anthony P. Sims<ref name=nursephd/>
  | thesis_title = The spatial and temporal organisation of amino acid pools in Candida utilis
  | thesis_url = http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.467339
  | thesis_year = 1974
  |academic_advisors = 
  |doctoral_students = [[Alison Woollard]]<ref name=woollardphd>{{cite thesis |degree=DPhil |first=Alison|last=Woollard |title=Cell cycle control in fission yeast |publisher=University of Oxford |date=1995 |website=bodleian.ox.ac.uk|url=http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/OXVU1:LSCOP_OX:oxfaleph013717690|oclc=43404640|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.318479}}}}</ref>
  |known_for         = 
  |influences        = 
  |influenced        = 
  |awards            = {{Plainlist|
* [[Rosenstiel Award]] (1992)
* [[Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine]] (1992)<ref name="Jeantet">{{cite web |title=Professor Paul NURSE |url=https://www.jeantet.ch/en/prix-louis-jeantet/laureats/1992-en/professeur-paul-nurse/ |website=Fondation Louis-Jeantet |date=October 2017 |access-date=13 October 2021}}</ref>
* [[Royal Medal]] (1995)
* [[Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research|Lasker Award]] (1998)
* [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] (2001)
* [[Copley Medal]] (2005)
* [[Albert Einstein World Award of Science]] (2013)}}
  }}
}}

'''Sir Paul Maxime Nurse''' (born 25 January 1949) is an English [[geneticist]], former [[President of the Royal Society]] and Chief Executive and Director of the [[Francis Crick Institute]].<ref>{{Cite journal
 | pmid = 22748588
| year = 2012
| last1 = Nurse
| first1 = P
| title = In answer to questions about the Francis Crick Institute
| journal = The Lancet
| volume = 379
| issue = 9835
| pages = 2427–8
| doi = 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61066-6
| s2cid = 37007507
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal
 | pmid = 23828914
| year = 2013
| last1 = Nurse
| first1 = Paul
| title = Building better institutions
| journal = Science
| volume = 341
| issue = 6141
| pages = 10
| last2 = Treisman
| first2 = Richard
| last3 = Smith
| first3 = Jim
| author-link3 = James Cuthbert Smith
| doi = 10.1126/science.1242307
| bibcode = 2013Sci...341...10N
| doi-access = free
}}</ref><ref name=scopus>{{Scopus|id=7101733795}}</ref> 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 division of cells in the [[cell cycle]].<ref name="nobelmedicine2001">{{cite web |title=The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2001 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2001/summary/ |website=The Nobel Prize |access-date=13 October 2021}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Nurse's mother went from London to [[Norwich]] and lived with relatives while awaiting Paul's birth (at the age of 18)<ref name=mother>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/aug/09/paul-nurse-birth-certificate-not-mothers-name|title=Sir Paul Nurse: 'I looked at my birth certificate. That was not my mother's name'|website=[[TheGuardian.com]]|date=9 August 2014}}</ref> 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.<ref name=tls>{{cite web |last1=Al-Khalili |first1=Jim |title=Paul Nurse - life and work |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015n3b7 |website=The Life Scientific |access-date=13 October 2021}}</ref>

Paul was brought up by his grandparents (whom he took to be his parents) in North West London.<ref name=mother/> He was educated at Lyon Park school in [[Alperton]] and [[Harrow County School for Boys|Harrow County Grammar School]].<ref name=whoswho/> He received his [[BSc]] degree in [[Biology]] in 1970 from the [[University of Birmingham]]<ref>[http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/alumni/ouralumni/Our-alumni.aspx Our Alumni] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150421034854/http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/alumni/ouralumni/Our-alumni.aspx |date=21 April 2015 }} – website of the University of Birmingham</ref> and his [[PhD]] degree in 1973 from the [[University of East Anglia]] for research on ''[[Candida utilis]]''.<ref name=nursephd>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Paul Maxime|last=Nurse |title=The spatial and temporal organisation of amino acid pools in ''Candida utilis'' |publisher=University of East Anglia |date=1974 |url=http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.467339|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.467339}}|oclc=500529574}}</ref> 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 [[Birth certificate#United Kingdom|UK birth certificate]] which did not name his parents. When he applied for a full birth certificate he discovered the truth, to his astonishment.<ref name=mother/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/aug/15/sir-paul-nurse-the-uk-has-taken-a-leap-several-decades-into-the-past |title=Sir Paul Nurse: 'The UK has taken a leap several decades into the past' |newspaper=The Guardian |author=Andrew Anthony |date= 15 August 2020}}</ref>

==Career and research==
Nurse continued his [[postdoctoral research]] at the laboratory of [[Murdoch Mitchison]] at the [[University of Edinburgh]] for the next six years (1973–1979).<ref name="Nobel">{{Nobelprize|accessdate=28 April 2020}} including the Nobel Lecture Nobel Lecture 9 December 2001 ''Controlling the Cell Cycle''</ref><ref name="pmid27270696">{{cite journal|author1= Fantes PA |author2=Hoffman CS| title = A Brief History of Schizosaccharomyces pombe Research: A Perspective Over the Past 70 Years.|journal = [[Genetics (journal)|Genetics]]| volume = 203| issue = 2| pages = 621–9|date=2016| pmid = 27270696| doi =10.1534/genetics.116.189407| pmc = 4896181}}</ref>

Beginning in 1976, Nurse identified the gene ''[[cdc2]]'' in [[fission yeast]]<ref>{{Cite journal 
| doi = 10.1007/BF00268085 
| last1 = Nurse | first1 = P. 
| last2 = Thuriaux | first2 = P. 
| last3 = Nasmyth | first3 = K. 
| title = Genetic control of the cell division cycle in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe 
| journal = Molecular & General Genetics 
| volume = 146 
| issue = 2 
| pages = 167–178 
| year = 1976 
| pmid = 958201
| s2cid = 24156567 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal 
| last1 = Nurse | first1 = P. 
| title = Wee beasties 
| doi = 10.1038/432557a 
| journal = Nature 
| volume = 432 
| issue = 7017 
| pages = 557 
| year = 2004 
| pmid = 15577889 
| bibcode = 2004Natur.432..557N 
| s2cid = 29840746 
| doi-access = free 
}}</ref> (''[[Schizosaccharomyces pombe]]''). This gene controls the progression of the cell cycle from [[G1 phase]] to [[S phase]] and the transition from [[G2 phase]] to [[mitosis]]. In 1987, Nurse identified the homologous gene in human, ''[[Cdk1]]'', which codes for a [[cyclin dependent kinase]].<ref>{{Cite journal
 | last1 = Lee | first1 = M. G.
 | last2 = Nurse | first2 = P.
 | doi = 10.1038/327031a0
 | title = Complementation used to clone a human homologue of the fission yeast cell cycle control gene cdc2
 | journal = Nature
 | volume = 327
 | issue = 6117
 | pages = 31–35
 | year = 1987
 | pmid = 3553962
| bibcode = 1987Natur.327...31L
 | s2cid = 4300190
 }}</ref>

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.<ref name="illpres">{{cite web |title=The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2001 - Illustrated Lecture |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2001/7743-the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine-2001/ |website=The Nobel Prize |access-date=14 October 2021}}</ref>

In 1984, Nurse joined the [[Imperial Cancer Research Fund]] (ICRF, now [[Cancer Research UK]]). He left in 1988 to chair the department of microbiology at the [[University of Oxford]]. He then returned to the ICRF as Director of Research in 1993, and in 1996 was named Director General of the ICRF, which became Cancer Research UK in 2002. In 2003, he became president of [[Rockefeller University]] in [[New York City]]<ref name="tg-2003sep17">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2003/sep/18/scienceinterviews.science |title=Paul Nurse talks to Ian Sample about money, moustaches, and his move to Manhattan |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=17 September 2003 |first=Ian |last=Sample}}</ref> where he continued work on the cell cycle of fission yeast.  In 2011 Nurse became the first Director and Chief Executive of the [[UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukcmri.ac.uk/press/press_release6.html |title=Project Press Release |access-date=11 August 2010 |publisher=UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation web site |date=15 July 2010 }}{{dead link|date=September 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> now the [[Francis Crick Institute]].

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_kijV323VQ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111014005420/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_kijV323VQ |archive-date=2011-10-14 |url-status=dead|title=Unavailable private video|website=youtube.com}}</ref>

==Awards and honours==
In addition to the Nobel Prize, Nurse has received numerous awards and honours. He was elected an [[EMBO Member]] in 1987<ref name=membo>{{cite web|url=http://people.embo.org/profile/paul-nurse|title=EMBO profile: Paul Nurse|website=people.embo.org}}</ref> and a [[List of Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 1989|Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1989]]<ref name=elected1989>{{cite web|title=Fellowship of the Royal Society 1660–2015 |url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RVVZY00MZNrK2YCTTzVrbTFH2t3RxoAZah128gQR-NM/pubhtml |publisher=Royal Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015185820/https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RVVZY00MZNrK2YCTTzVrbTFH2t3RxoAZah128gQR-NM/pubhtml |archive-date=15 October 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=royal>{{cite web|url=https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo==%27EC%2F1989%2F23%27) |author=Anon |year=1989 |title=EC/1989/23 Nurse, Sir Paul Maxime |publisher=The Royal Society |archive-date= 3 September 2014 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140903124654/https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo=='EC/1989/23') |location=London |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the Founder Member of the [[Academy of Medical Sciences]] in 1998.  In 1995, he was awarded the Pezcoller-AACR International Award.<ref>{{cite web |title=THE PEZCOLLER FOUNDATION – AACR INTERNATIONAL AWARD AND THE NOBEL PRIZE |url=https://www.pezcoller.it/en/awards/the-pezcoller-foundation-%E2%80%93-aacr-international-award-and-the-nobel-prize/ |website=Fondazione Pezcoller - Pezcoller Foundation |access-date=14 October 2021}}</ref> he received a [[Royal Medal]] and became a foreign associate of the U.S. [[National Academy of Sciences]]. He received the [[Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research]] in 1998. Nurse was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in 1999. He was awarded the French [[Legion d'Honneur]] and the Golden Plate Award of the [[American Academy of Achievement]] in 2002.<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref> He was also awarded the [[Copley Medal]] in 2005. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] – one of the top honours – in April 2006. He is a member of the Advisory Council for the [[Campaign for Science and Engineering]].<ref name="CaSE Advisory Council">{{cite web|url=http://www.sciencecampaign.org.uk/about/who/advisory.htm |title=Advisory Council of the Campaign for Science and Engineering |access-date=2011-02-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100828110110/http://www.sciencecampaign.org.uk/about/who/advisory.htm |archive-date=28 August 2010 }}</ref> Nurse is the 2007 recipient of the Hope Funds Award of Excellence in Basic Research. He is a Freeman of the London Borough of Harrow. In 2013, he was awarded the [[Albert Einstein World Award of Science]] by the [[World Cultural Council]].<ref>{{cite web|title=World Cultural Council 30th Award Ceremony|url=http://neworldacademicsummit.com/videos/31317593|publisher=[[Nanyang Technological University]]|date=2 October 2013|access-date=2 October 2013}} {{dead link|date=August 2016}}</ref> In 2015, he was elected a foreign academician of the [[Chinese Academy of Sciences]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cas.cn/tz/201512/t20151207_4488383.shtml |title = 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|website = Chinese Academy of Sciences|access-date=2021-10-14}}</ref> and won the 10th annual Henry G. Friesen International Prize in Health Research, in Ottawa, Canada.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/the-eminent-dr-nurse-1.3442102|title=The Eminent Dr. Nurse |website=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=2016-02-26 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/the-2015-henry-g-friesen-international-prize-in-health-research-is-awarded-to-sir-paul-nurse-a-geneticist-and-cell-biologist-and-president-of-the-royal-society-of-london-517702201.html |title=The 2015 Henry G. Friesen International Prize in Health Research is awarded to Sir Paul... – TORONTO, May 4, 2015 |website=Cision - Friends of Canadian Institutes of Health Research |access-date=2016-02-26}}</ref> He was appointed [[Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour]] (CH) in the [[2022 New Year Honours]] for services to science and medicine in the UK and abroad.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3956040 |title=Order of the Companions of Honour |publisher=[[The London Gazette]] |date=1 January 2022 }}</ref> In November 2022 he was appointed to the Order of Merit.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |last=His Majesty The King |date=2022-11-11 |title=New Appointments to the Order of Merit |url=https://www.royal.uk/new-appointments-order-of-merit |access-date=2022-11-11 |website=royal.uk}}</ref>

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)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/warwick_honorary_degrees_for_stars_of_gavin__stacey__hustle_rsc__royal_court_artistic_directors_scientists_historians_philanthropist___a_us_government_adviser1/|title=Warwick honorary degrees for stars of Gavin & Stacey & Hustle, RSC & Royal Court Artistic Directors, scientists, historians, philanthropist & a US government adviser |publisher=University of Warwick|date=28 June 2013|access-date=30 October 2013}}</ref> the [[University of Worcester]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worcester.ac.uk/community/sir-paul-nurse-graduation-2013.html|title=Worcester honorary degrees and Fellowships|publisher=University of Worcester|date=21 November 2013|access-date=21 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140403021719/http://worcester.ac.uk/community/sir-paul-nurse-graduation-2013.html|archive-date=3 April 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> (Doctor of Science) in 2013, [[City, University of London]]<ref name="City-hondegree2014">{{cite web |title=Honorary graduates 2014 |url=http://www.city.ac.uk/graduation/honorary-graduates/honorary-graduates-2014 |website=Archived from City University London website in Wayback Machine Internet Archive |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202030625/http://www.city.ac.uk/graduation/honorary-graduates/honorary-graduates-2014 |access-date=14 October 2021|archive-date=2 February 2015 }}</ref> (Doctor of Science) in 2014 and [[McGill University]]<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.mcgill.ca/channels/news/mcgill-honorary-doctorates-2017-267838 |title = McGill Honorary Doctorates 2017|website=McGill University}}</ref> (Doctor of Science) in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded an honorary degree from the [[Mendel University in Brno]] in the Czech Republic.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Polčáková |first1=Petra |title=A top scientist very often moves on the edge of failure, says Nobelist Nurse |url=https://www.universitas.cz/en/people/4722-a-top-scientist-very-often-moves-on-the-edge-of-failure-says-nobelist-nurse |website=Universitas - magazine for universities |date=2 March 2020 |access-date=14 October 2021}}</ref>

He was also appointed an [[Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering]] (HonFREng) in 2012<ref name="List of Fellows">{{cite web|title=List of Fellows|url=http://www.raeng.org.uk/about-us/people-council-committees/the-fellowship/list-of-fellows?fa=n|website=Archived from Royal Academy of Engineering on Wayback Machine|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140812054314/http://www.raeng.org.uk/about-us/people-council-committees/the-fellowship/list-of-fellows?fa=n|access-date=14 October 2021|archive-date = 12 August 2014}}</ref> and Honorary Fellow of the British Association (HonFBA) in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishscienceassociation.org/our-honorary-fellows|title=Our Honorary Fellows|website=British Science Association|date=28 February 2018 |access-date=14 October 2021}}</ref> In July 2016 it was announced that he will be the next Chancellor of the [[University of Bristol]].<ref name="University of Bristol press release">{{cite web|title=University of Bristol press release|url=http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2016/july/new-chancellor.html|website=University of Bristol|access-date=14 October 2021}}</ref><ref name="bn-2017jan01">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-38483368 |title=Sir Paul Nurse becomes Bristol University chancellor |website=[[BBC News]] |date=1 January 2017 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->}}</ref> He is an Honorary Liveryman of the [[Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers]].<ref name="WCSIM">{{cite web |title=Honorary members - Honorary Liverymen of the Company |url=https://www.wcsim.co.uk/about/honorary-members/ |website=The Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers |access-date=15 October 2021}}</ref> On 23 November 2024 he was elected the 169th President of [[Birmingham & Midland Institute|The Birmingham & Midland Institute]] by its members.

==Personal life==
Nurse married Anne Teresa (née Talbott) in 1971; they have two daughters – Sarah, who works for [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]], and Emily,<ref name=emily>Emily Nurse's {{ORCID|0000-0001-6905-1285}}</ref> a physicist based at [[University College London]] and [[CERN]].<ref name="ObserverHomeTruths"/><ref name=whoswho/> He describes himself as a sceptical agnostic.<ref name="Nobel"/>

=== Political views ===
Nurse has been a member of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] for nearly 40 years and is a patron of [[Scientists for Labour]], a [[socialist]] society affiliated to them.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scientistsforlabour.org.uk/about-sfl|title=About SFL}}</ref> In September 2020, he was a co-author on a letter in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' alongside the former prime minister [[Gordon Brown]] highlighting the importance of [[EU]] funding in the fight against [[COVID-19]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Fernando|first1=Benjamin|last2=Brown|first2=Gordon|last3=Thomas|first3=Emily|last4=Head|first4=Michael|last5=Nurse|first5=Paul|last6=Rees|first6=Martin|date=2020-09-22|title=COVID-19 shows UK–EU collaborations are irreplaceable|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=586|issue=7828|pages=200|doi=10.1038/d41586-020-02687-6|pmid=32963368|bibcode=2020Natur.586..200F|doi-access=free|url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:9802ef8c-7dc0-4e7b-b673-371f61c35f2c/files/sgb19f609d}}</ref>

As an undergraduate student at Birmingham, Nurse sold ''[[Socialist Worker]]'', and participated in an occupation of the vice-chancellor's office.<ref name="ObserverHomeTruths">{{cite web |last=McKie |first=Robin |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2010/oct/24/profile-paul-nurse-dna-genes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305081022/http://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2010/oct/24/profile-paul-nurse-dna-genes|archive-date=2016-03-05 |title= Paul Nurse: Home truths for the gene genius |publisher=[[The Observer]] |location=London |date=2010-10-24 |website=theguardian.com }}</ref><ref name="NSPaulNurse">{{cite news |last=Brooks |first=Michael |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2011/06/british-science-nurse-society |title=The Science Interview – Paul Nurse |work=[[New Statesman]] |location=London |publisher=Progressive Media International |date=2011-06-09 |access-date=2015-07-13 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="THEGibson">{{cite news |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/features/somehow-i-knew-id-see-you-again-you-bastard/177668.article |title=Somehow, I knew I'd see you again, you bastard |work=[[Times Higher Education]] |publisher=TES Global |date=2003-06-27 |access-date=2015-07-13 }}</ref>

Nurse has criticised potential [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] candidates for the US presidential nomination for opposing the teaching of [[natural selection]], [[Stem cell research policy|stem cell research]] on cell lines from human embryos, and [[anthropogenic climate change]], even partially blaming scientists for not speaking up.<ref name="politics">[https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21128302.900-stamp-out-antiscience-in-us-politics.html Stamp out anti-science; it's time to reject political movements that turn their backs on science], Paul Nurse, New Scientist, 17 September 2011</ref> He was alarmed that this could happen in the US, a world leader in science, "the home of [[Benjamin Franklin]], [[Richard Feynman]] and [[James D. Watson|Jim Watson]]".<ref name="politics"/>

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.<ref name="politics"/> 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."<ref name="politics"/> Furthermore, Nurse feels that scientific leaders "have a responsibility to expose the bunkum". They should take on politicians, and expose nonsense during elections.<ref name="politics"/>

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 [[2014 Scottish independence referendum|referendum on that issue]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/07/celebrities-open-letter-scotland-independence-full-text |title=Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=7 August 2014 |access-date=26 August 2014}}</ref>

Nurse believes that scientists should speak out about science in public affairs and challenge politicians who support policies based on [[pseudoscience]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Nurse |first=Paul|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21128302.900-stamp-out-antiscience-in-us-politics.html|title=Stamp out anti-science in US politics|website=New Scientist}}</ref>

== Books ==

* ''What Is Life?: Five Great Ideas in Biology'' (2021), [[W. W. Norton & Company]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Nurse |first=Paul|title=What Is Life?|date=2 February 2021 |publisher=National Geographic Books |isbn=978-0393541151 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of presidents of the Royal Society]]
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}

* {{Nobelprize}} including the Nobel Lecture Nobel Lecture 9 December 2001 ''Controlling the Cell Cycle''
* [https://themoth.org/storytellers/paul-nurse-hoffman Stories told by Paul Nurse] at [[The Moth]]
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015n3b7 Paul Nurse on the premiere episode of ''The Life Scientific''] ([[BBC Radio 4]]), originally aired: 11 Oct 2011, 30 minutes in length

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