View source for Tim Hunt

{{Short description|British biochemist; Nobel laureate}}
{{Other people}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix  = Sir
| name              = Tim Hunt
| honorific_suffix  = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRS|FRSE|FMedSci|MAE|size=100%}}
| image             = Tim Hunt at UCSF 05 2009 (4).jpg
| caption           = Hunt at [[UCSF]] in 2009
| birth_name        = Richard Timothy Hunt
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1943|2|19|df=yes}}<ref name=whoswho>{{Who's Who | title=HUNT, Sir Tim | id = U21231 | volume = 2015 | edition = online [[Oxford University Press]]}} {{better source|date=February 2024}}</ref>
| birth_place       = [[Neston]], [[Cheshire]], England
| thesis_title      = The synthesis of haemoglobin
| thesis_url        = http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.604802
| thesis_year       = 1969
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Asher Korner]]<ref name=huntphd/>
| doctoral_students = {{Plainlist|
* [[Hugh Pelham]]<ref name=pelhamphd>{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|publisher=University of Cambridge|title=Transcription and Translation in Reticulocyte Lysates|first= Hugh R. B.|last=Pelham|date=1978|url=http://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=12494|website=lib.cam.ac.uk|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.468626}}|oclc=500538683}}</ref><ref name=pelham>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117014840/https://royalsociety.org/people/hugh-pelham-12072/|archive-date=17 November 2015|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/hugh-pelham-12072/|url-status=live|title=Sir Hugh Pelham FMedSci FRS|publisher=[[Royal Society]]|location=London}}</ref>
* [[Jonathon Pines]]<ref name=pinesphd>{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|publisher=University of Cambridge|title=Cyclin : a major maternal message in sea urchin eggs|first= Jonathon Noe Joseph|last=Pines|date=1987|url=http://ulmss-newton.lib.cam.ac.uk/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=12621|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.233321}}|oclc=499166627|website=lib.cam.ac.uk}}</ref><ref name=huntpine>{{cite journal |last1=Pines |first1=Jonathon |last2=Hunt |first2=Tim |date=1987 |title=Molecular cloning and characterization of the mRNA for cyclin from sea urchin eggs |journal=[[The EMBO Journal]] |volume=6 |issue=10 |pages=2987–2995|pmid=2826125|pmc=553735|doi=10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb02604.x }}</ref><ref name=zoo>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150515223837/http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/directory/jonathon-pines|archive-date=15 May 2015|url-status=live|url=http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/directory/jonathon-pines|title=Dr Jonathon Pines: Department of Zoology|publisher=cam.ac.uk|location=Cambridge}}</ref>}}
| death_date        =
| death_place       =
| field             = [[Cell cycle]]<ref name=googlescholar>{{GoogleScholar|DuqqJoEAAAAJ}}</ref> (Biochemistry)
| work_institutions = {{Plainlist|
* [[London Research Institute]]
* [[University College London]]
* [[Imperial Cancer Research Fund]]
* [[University of Cambridge]]
* [[Marine Biological Laboratory]]
* [[Francis Crick Institute]]}}
| education         = {{Plainlist|
* [[Dragon School]]
* [[Magdalen College School, Oxford]]}}
| alma_mater        = [[University of Cambridge]] (BA, PhD)
| known_for         = [[Cell cycle regulation]]
| prizes            = {{Plainlist|
* [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] (2001)
* [[Royal Medal]] (2006)
* [[Knight Bachelor]] (2006)}}
| spouse            = {{marriage|[[Mary Collins (immunologist)|Mary Collins]]|1995}}<ref name=whoswho/>
| children          = Two daughters<ref name=whoswho/>
}}
'''Sir Richard Timothy Hunt''' (born 19 February 1943) is a British [[biochemist]] and molecular [[physiologist]]. He was awarded the 2001 [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] with [[Paul Nurse]] and [[Leland H. Hartwell]] for their discoveries of protein molecules that control the division of cells. While studying fertilized sea urchin eggs in the early 1980s, Hunt discovered [[cyclin]], a protein that cyclically aggregates and is depleted during cell division cycles.
== Early life and education ==
Hunt was born on 19 February 1943<ref name=whoswho/> in [[Neston]], [[Cheshire]], to [[Richard William Hunt]], a lecturer in [[palaeography]] in Liverpool, and Kit Rowland, daughter of a timber merchant.<ref name="thunt">{{cite web |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2001/hunt/biographical/ |title=Tim Hunt – Biographical|access-date=14 March 2024| work = Nobelprize.org |publisher = Nobel Media AB |year = 2001}}</ref> After the death of both his parents, Hunt found his father had worked at [[Bush House]], then the headquarters of [[BBC World Service]] radio, most likely in intelligence, although it is not known what he actually did.<ref name="thunt" /> In 1945, Richard became Keeper of the Western Manuscripts at the [[Bodleian Library]], and the family relocated to [[Oxford]]. At the age of eight, Hunt was accepted into the [[Dragon School]],<ref name=whoswho/> where he first developed an interest in biology thanks to his science teacher, the German educator [[Gerd Sommerhoff]].<ref name="thunt" /> When he was fourteen, he moved to [[Magdalen College School, Oxford]], becoming even more interested in science and studying subjects such as chemistry and zoology.<ref name="thunt" />
In 1961, he was accepted into [[Clare College, Cambridge]] to study [[Natural Sciences (Cambridge)|Natural Sciences]], graduating in 1964 and immediately beginning work in the university Department of Biochemistry under [[Asher Korner]].<ref name="thunt" /> There, he worked with scientists such as [[Louis Reichardt]] and [[Anthony R. Hunter|Tony Hunter]].<ref name="thunt" /> A 1965 talk by [[Vernon Ingram]] interested him in [[haemoglobin synthesis]], and at a Greek conference in 1966 on the subject, he persuaded the haematologist and geneticist [[Irving London]] to allow him to work in his laboratory at [[Albert Einstein College of Medicine]] in New York, staying from July to October 1966.<ref name="thunt"/> His PhD was supervised by Asher Korner<ref name=huntphd/> and focused on haemoglobin synthesis in intact [[rabbit]] [[reticulocyte]]s (immature [[red blood cell]]s), and was awarded in 1968.<ref name=huntphd>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Richard Timothy|last=Hunt |title=The synthesis of haemoglobin |publisher=University of Cambridge |date=1969 |url=https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/252824|oclc=885437139|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.604802}}}} {{open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hunt|first1=Tim|last2=Hunter|first2=Tony|last3=Munro|first3=Alan|title=Control of haemoglobin synthesis: Distribution of ribosomes on the messenger RNA for α and β chains|journal=Journal of Molecular Biology|volume=36|issue=1|year=1968|pages=31–45|doi=10.1016/0022-2836(68)90217-9|pmid=5760537}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hunt|first1=Tim|last2=Hunter|first2=Tony|last3=Munro|first3=Alan|title=Control of haemoglobin synthesis: a difference in the size of the polysomes making alpha and beta chains|journal=Nature|volume=220|issue=5166|year=1968|pages=481–483|pmid=5686164|doi=10.1038/220481a0|bibcode=1968Natur.220..481H|s2cid=4293819}}</ref>
== Career and research ==
===Early career===
Following his PhD, Hunt returned to New York to work with London, in collaboration with Nechama Kosower, her husband Edward Kosower, and Ellie Ehrenfeld. While there, they discovered that tiny amounts of [[glutathione]] inhibited [[protein synthesis]] in [[reticulocytes]] and that tiny amounts of [[RNA]] killed the synthesis altogether. After returning to Cambridge, he again began work with Tony Hunter and [[Richard Jackson (biochemist)|Richard Jackson]], who had discovered the RNA strand used to start haemoglobin synthesis. After 3–4 years, the team discovered at least two other chemicals acting as inhibitors.<ref name="thunt" />
Hunt regularly spent summers working at the [[Marine Biological Laboratory]] at [[Woods Hole, Massachusetts]], which was popular with scientists for its advanced summer courses, and in particular, with those interested in the study of [[mitosis]]. The location provided a ready supply of surf clams (''[[Spisula solidissima]]'') and [[sea urchins]] (''[[Arbacia punctulata]]'') amongst the reefs and fishing docks, and it was these invertebrates that were particularly useful for the study of the synthesis of proteins in embryogenesis, as the embryos were simply generated with the application of filtered sea water, and the transparency of the embryo cells was well suited to microscopic study.<ref name=Jackson_TheHuntForCyclin>{{cite journal|last1=Jackson|first1=Peter K.|title=The Hunt for Cyclin|journal=Cell|date=July 2008|volume=134|issue=2|pages=199–202|doi=10.1016/j.cell.2008.07.011|pmid=18662532|s2cid=1974575|doi-access=free}}</ref>
===Discovery of cyclins===
It was at Woods Hole around July 1982, using ''[[Arbacia]]'' sea urchin eggs as his model organism, that he discovered [[cyclin]] proteins.<ref name="thunt" /> Cyclins play a key role in regulating the [[cell-division cycle]].<ref name="illpres">{{cite web |title=The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2001 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2001/7743-the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine-2001/ |accessdate=8 August 2022 |publisher=Nobel Prize Outreach}}</ref> Hunt was observing the eggs undergo cell division after fertilization.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Uzbekov |first1=Rustem |last2=Prigent |first2=Claude |date=January 2022 |title=A Journey through Time on the Discovery of Cell Cycle Regulation |journal=Cells |language=en |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=704 |doi=10.3390/cells11040704 |doi-access=free |pmid=35203358 |pmc=8870340 |issn=2073-4409}}</ref> The study also included a control group where the eggs had been activated without fertilization by a [[calcium ionophore]]. The eggs were incubated with the amino acid [[methionine]] in which some of the atoms were radioactive isotopes ([[radiolabelling|radiolabelled]]), with samples being taken from the eggs at 10 minute intervals. During the egg development, the radioactive methionine was uptaken into the cells and used to make proteins. From the samples, proteins were precipitated and then separated by mass into distinct bands on a resolving gel mat, which were then observed by photographic film that could detect the radioactivity emitted by the proteins. Observing the changes in the bands across the samples, Hunt noticed that one of the proteins rose in abundance before disappearing during the [[mitosis]] phase of cell division.<ref name="Jackson_TheHuntForCyclin" /> Hunt named the protein "cyclin" based on his observation of the cyclical changes in its levels.<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 October 2014 |title=Understanding how cells divide – the story of a Nobel prize |url=http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2014/10/06/from-yeast-to-sea-urchins-the-story-of-a-nobel-prize/ |access-date=24 October 2015 |website=Cancer Research UK – Science blog}}</ref> It was later discovered that cyclins are continuously synthesised, but are specifically targeted for [[proteolysis]] during mitosis.<ref name="Jackson_TheHuntForCyclin" /> The discovery of cyclins was reported in a study published in ''[[Cell (journal)|Cell]]'' in 1983.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Evans |first1=Tom |last2=Rosenthal |first2=Eric T. |last3=Youngblom |first3=Jim |last4=Distel |first4=Dan |last5=Hunt |first5=Tim |date=June 1983 |title=Cyclin: A protein specified by maternal mRNA in sea urchin eggs that is destroyed at each cleavage division |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0092867483904208 |journal=Cell |language=en |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=389–396 |doi=10.1016/0092-8674(83)90420-8|pmid=6134587 }}</ref> Hunt later demonstrated that cyclins were also present in another sea urchin, ''[[Lytechinus pictus]]'', as well as in ''[[Spisula]]'' clams.<ref name="Jackson_TheHuntForCyclin" />
Hunt was aware that the discovery of cyclins was significant, but was initially unsure of how cyclins functioned in regard to cell division.<ref name=":0" /> This was clarified in later papers in the 1980s and 1990s, some of which Hunt co-authored.  These again utilized sea urchin eggs as well as eggs of the frog ''[[Xenopus]]'', and demonstrated that cyclins were present in the cells of most organisms, and combine with [[kinase]] enzymes (specifically [[cyclin-dependent kinases]]) to form [[maturation-promoting factor]] (MPF). MPF has previously been identified in 1971 by [[Yoshio Masui]] and [[Clement Markert]] from ''Xenopus'' eggs. MPF induces mitosis, with the cyclic activation and inactivation of MPF being a key element in regulating and progressing the cell cycle.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Jackson_TheHuntForCyclin" />
===Later career===
[[File:OIST BOG Members After Meeting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 4 October 2013 20131004.jpg|thumb|200px|with [[Cherry A. Murray]], [[Jerome Isaac Friedman]], [[Torsten Wiesel]], [[Kōji Omi]], [[Akito Arima]], [[Jonathan M. Dorfan]] and Robert Baughman]]
In 1990, he began work at [[Imperial Cancer Research Fund]], later known as the [[Cancer Research UK]] [[London Research Institute]], in the United Kingdom, where his work focused on understanding on what makes cell go cancerous, that is: proliferate uncontrollably, with the ordinary inhibitory signals switched off.<ref>
{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/8215297/Sir-Tim-Hunt-I-am-interested-in-how-cells-know-what-they-are-and-how-they-should-behave.html|title=Sir Tim Hunt: I am interested in how cells know what they are and how they should behave (Interview)|author=Liz Hunt|work=The Telegraph|date=21 December 2010|access-date=26 December 2015}}</ref> That same year, Hunt defined the concept of [[short linear motif]]s, parts of protein sequences that mediate interactions with other proteins.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kumar |first1=Manjeet |last2=Michael |first2=Sushama |last3=Alvarado-Valverde |first3=Jesús |last4=Zeke |first4=András |last5=Lazar |first5=Tamas |last6=Glavina |first6=Juliana |last7=Nagy-Kanta |first7=Eszter |last8=Donagh |first8=Juan Mac |last9=Kalman |first9=Zsofia E |last10=Pascarelli |first10=Stefano |last11=Palopoli |first11=Nicolas |last12=Dobson |first12=László |last13=Suarez |first13=Carmen Florencia |last14=Van Roey |first14=Kim |last15=Krystkowiak |first15=Izabella |date=5 January 2024 |title=ELM—the Eukaryotic Linear Motif resource—2024 update |url=https://academic.oup.com/nar/article/52/D1/D442/7420098 |journal=Nucleic Acids Research |language=en |volume=52 |issue=D1 |pages=D442–D455 |doi=10.1093/nar/gkad1058 |issn=0305-1048 |pmc=10767929 |pmid=37962385}}</ref> In 1993, the book ''The Cell Cycle: An Introduction'', which Hunt co-authored along with Andrew Murray, was published by [[Oxford University Press]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cross |first1=Frederick R. |last2=Levine |first2=Kristi |date=25 February 1994 |title=Growth and Division: The Cell Cycle . An Introduction. Andrew Murray and Tim Hunt. Oxford University Press, New York, 1993. xii, 251 pp., illus. $45 or £32.50; paper, $22.95 or £15.95. |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.263.5150.1164.b |journal=Science |language=en |volume=263 |issue=5150 |pages=1164–1165 |doi=10.1126/science.263.5150.1164.b |issn=0036-8075}}</ref> Hunt had his own laboratory at the Clare Hall Laboratories until the end of 2010, and remains an [[Emeritus]] Group Leader at the [[Francis Crick Institute]].<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=http://science.cancerresearchuk.org/research/loc/london/lifch/huntt/ |title=Cancer Research UK: Tim Hunt |access-date=13 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013023919/http://science.cancerresearchuk.org/research/loc/london/lifch/huntt/ |archive-date=13 October 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.crick.ac.uk/about-us/who-we-are/how-we-got-here/notable-alumni/tim-hunt|title=Tim Hunt biography on the web pages of the Francis Crick Institute|access-date=15 April 2019|archive-date=15 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415082336/https://www.crick.ac.uk/about-us/who-we-are/how-we-got-here/notable-alumni/tim-hunt|url-status=dead}}</ref>  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=11 February 2011|archive-date=28 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100828110110/http://www.sciencecampaign.org.uk/about/who/advisory.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>  He has served on the Selection Committee for the [[Shaw Prize]] in Life Science and Medicine.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shawprize.org/en/shaw.php?tmp=1&twoid=3&threeid=98|title=Shaw Prize Website: Selection Committee|access-date=25 December 2015|archive-date=26 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151226084828/http://www.shawprize.org/en/shaw.php?tmp=1&twoid=3&threeid=98|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2010, Hunt joined the Academic Advisory Board of the Austrian think tank Academia Superior, Institute for Future Studies.<ref>[https://www.academia-superior.at/the-people-behind-academia-superior?lang=en#academic_advisory_board ''Academia Superior – Academic Advisory Board'']. Retrieved 30 March 2019.</ref>
Hunt is a highly regarded colleague and mentor in the research community.<ref name="The Times">{{cite news|url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/letters/article4477112.ece|title=Tim Hunt plaudits (Letter to the editor)|date=23 June 2015|work=The Times|access-date=28 December 2015}}</ref><ref name="thetimes.co.uk">{{cite news|last1=Whipple|first1=T.|url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/science/article4477447.ece|title=Women scientists defend 'sexist' Nobel winner|work=The Times|date=23 June 2015|access-date=28 December 2015}}</ref> During his career he has supervised numerous PhD students including [[Hugh Pelham]]<ref name=pelhamphd/> and [[Jonathon Pines]].<ref name=pinesphd/>
===Science advocacy===
In addition to his scientific contributions, Hunt is a lifelong advocate for scientific research. After winning the Nobel Prize in 2001, he spent much of his time traveling the world, talking to both popular and specialist audiences. In these talks he offered his characteristic perspective on inquiry, which emphasizes the importance of having fun and being lucky.<ref>{{YouTube|w-GshyJXf4o|"I admire people who do fun things"}}</ref> He also believes that science benefits when power is given to young people, himself having been given full autonomy and authority at age 27.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Torres |first=Isabel |date=April 2014 |title=I Believe in Giving Power to the Young |url=http://www.labtimes.org/i50/i_01.lasso |magazine=Labtimes |location=Freiburg |publisher=LJ-Verlag |access-date=13 April 2019 |archive-date=16 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190316220727/http://www.labtimes.org/i50/i_01.lasso |url-status=dead }}</ref>
====2015 controversy====
{{further|Online shaming#Tim Hunt controversy}}
At the World Conference of Science Journalists in [[Seoul]] in June 2015, Hunt gave a impromptu toast at a lunch for female journalists and scientists. As recounted by an EU official, Hunt said:<ref name="Whipple">{{cite news|author1=Whipple, Tom|author2=Waterfield, Bruno|date=24 June 2015|title=Leaked transcript shows 'sexist' scientist was joking|work=The Times|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/leaked-transcript-shows-sexist-scientist-was-joking-rs2ft8x8wmv|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200226125519/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/leaked-transcript-shows-sexist-scientist-was-joking-rs2ft8x8wmv|archive-date=26 February 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{bquote|It's strange that such a chauvinist monster like me has been asked to speak to women scientists. Let me tell you about my trouble with girls. Three things happen when they are in the lab: you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticise them they cry. Perhaps we should make separate labs for boys and girls? Now, seriously, I'm impressed by the economic development of Korea. And women scientists played, without a doubt, an important role in it. Science needs women, and you should do science, despite all the obstacles, and despite monsters like me.}}
Parts of the remarks were widely publicised on social media due to their perceived sexist nature, resulting in an intense online backlash, which some described as an act of [[online shaming|public shaming]].<ref name="McKie">{{Cite news |last=McKie |first=Robin |date=13 June 2015 |title=Tim Hunt: 'I've been hung out to dry. They haven't even bothered to ask for my side of affairs' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jun/13/tim-hunt-hung-out-to-dry-interview-mary-collins |access-date=14 June 2015 |work=[[The Observer]]}}</ref> Hunt resigned from his honorary professorship at [[University College London]] after the university told him to; he also resigned from several other research positions.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McKie |first1=Robin |title=Shamed Nobel laureate Tim Hunt 'ruined by rush to judgment after stupid remarks' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jun/13/tim-hunt-forced-to-resign |access-date=21 March 2024 |work=The Observer |date=13 June 2015}}</ref> Hunt apologised and stated that the remarks were in jest. He said that they had been taken out of context, as the remarks had originally been reported without the words starting with "now seriously".<ref name="Obs_gratitude">McKie R. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/20/sir-tim-hunt-gratitude-female-scientists-support-joke Sir Tim Hunt: my gratitude to female scientists for their support]. The Observer, 20 June 2015.</ref> Hunt also stated he "did mean the part about having trouble with girls".<ref name="BBC News">{{Cite news |date=10 June 2015 |title=Sir Tim Hunt 'sorry' over 'trouble with girls' comments |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-33077107 |access-date=25 December 2015}}</ref> Some public figures and scientists, including some who had worked with Hunt, suggested that the backlash against him was disproportionate.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Whipple |first=T. |date=23 June 2015 |title=Women scientists defend 'sexist' Nobel winner |url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/science/article4477447.ece |access-date=28 December 2015 |website=The Times}}</ref><ref name="Guardian_Meikle_Dimbleby">{{Cite news |last=Meikle |first=James |date=30 June 2015 |title=Dimbleby resigns from UCL in protest at 'disgraceful' treatment of Sir Tim Hunt |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/jun/30/jonathan-dimbleby-resigns-ucl-sir-tim-hunt |access-date=30 June 2015 |work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=15 June 2015 |title=Boris Johnson defends Sir Tim Hunt's 'sexist' remarks |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-33137497 |access-date=6 July 2015 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref name="Times_whipple_13July">{{Cite news |last=Whipple |first=Tom |date=13 July 2015 |title=Leave Sir Tim alone, says fellow laureate |url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/science/article4495784.ece |access-date=13 July 2015 |work=The Times}}</ref>
== Awards and honours ==
Hunt was elected a member of the [[European Molecular Biology Organization|European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)]] in 1978, serving as a member of the organisation's Fellowship Committee 1990–1993, its Meeting Committee 2008–2009, and its governing body, the Council, 2004–2009.<ref name=embo>{{cite web|url=http://people.embo.org/profile/tim-hunt|title=Tim Hunt|publisher=[[European Molecular Biology Organization]]|location=Heidelberg}}</ref> He was elected a [[List of Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 1991|Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1991]],<ref name=frs>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117012232/https://royalsociety.org/people/tim-hunt-11666/|archive-date=17 November 2015|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/tim-hunt-11666/|url-status=live|publisher=[[Royal Society]]|location=London|title=Sir Tim Hunt FMedSci FRS|author=Anon|year=1991}} One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: {{blockquote|"All text published under the heading 'Biography' on Fellow profile pages is available under [[Creative Commons license|Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License]]." --{{cite web |url=https://royalsociety.org/about-us/terms-conditions-policies/ |title=Royal Society Terms, conditions and policies |access-date=2016-03-09 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925220834/https://royalsociety.org/about-us/terms-conditions-policies/ |archive-date=25 September 2015 |df=dmy-all }}}}</ref> his certificate of election reads:<ref name=royal>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205142003/https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo==%27EC%2F1991%2F14%27)|archive-date=5 December 2018|publisher=[[Royal Society]]|location=London|title=Certificate of election EC/1991/14: Hunt, Richard Timothy|url=https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo==%27EC%2F1991%2F14%27)|url-status=dead}}</ref>
{{blockquote|Distinguished for his studies of the control of protein synthesis in animal cells and for the discovery of cyclin, a protein which regulates the [[eukaryotic]] cell cycle. Together with Jackson and their students, he defined steps in formation of the initiation complex in protein synthesis, showing that the [[Eukaryotic small ribosomal subunit (40S)|40S ribosomal subunit]] binds initiator [[tRNA]] before it binds [[mRNA]], and that this step was the target of inhibitors such as double-stranded RNA or [[Heme|haem]] deficiency. They showed that inhibition of protein synthesis is mediated by reversible [[phosphorylation]] of initiation factor eIF-2 by two distinct protein kinases and they elucidated the unexpected roles of [[thioredoxin]] and [[thioredoxin reductase]] in [[protein synthesis]]. With Ruderman and Rosenthal, he demonstrated selective translational control of mRNA in early clam embryos. This led to Hunt's discovery of cyclin as a protein which is selectively destroyed in mitosis. He subsequently cloned and sequenced cyclin [[Complementary DNA|cDNA]] from sea urchins and frogs and showed by elegant mRNA ablation experiments that cyclin translation is necessary for mitosis in frog embryos. He has also shown that cyclin is a subunit of the mitosis-promoting factor which regulates entry into mitosis. His discovery and characterization of cyclin are major contributions to our knowledge of cell cycle regulation in eukaryotic cells.}}
Hunt was elected a fellow of the UK's [[Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom|Academy of Medical Sciences]] (FMedSci) in 1998,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acmedsci.ac.uk/fellows/fellows-directory/ordinary-fellows/sir-tim-hunt/|title=Fellow list entry for Tim Hunt on the Academy web pages|access-date=28 December 2015|archive-date=4 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181204121946/https://acmedsci.ac.uk/fellows/fellows-directory/ordinary-fellows/sir-tim-hunt|url-status=dead}}</ref> and a foreign associate of the US [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]] in 1999.<ref name='nas-hunt'>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/3008941.html|access-date=26 December 2015|title=Tim Hunt entry in the online member directory of the US National Academy of Sciences}}</ref>
In 2001, he was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] with [[Leland H. Hartwell|Leland Hartwell]] and [[Paul Nurse]] for their discoveries regarding [[cell cycle]] regulation by [[cyclin]] and [[cyclin-dependent kinase]]s. The three laureates are cited "for their discoveries of key regulators of the cell cycle," while Hunt in particular
{{blockquote|is awarded for his discovery of cyclins, proteins that regulate the CDK function. He showed that cyclins are degraded periodically at each cell division, a mechanism proved to be of general importance for cell cycle control.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2001/index.html|title=The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2001|work=nobelprize.org}}</ref>}}
In 2003, Hunt was made an honorary [[Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]] (HonFRSE).<ref name="HonFRSE">{{cite web|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/lists/fellows.pdf|title=PDF List of Fellows on the webpages of the RSE|date=24 November 2015|access-date=28 December 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160330014912/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/lists/fellows.pdf|archive-date=30 March 2016}}</ref> In 2006, he was awarded the [[Royal Society]]'s [[Royal Medal]], two of which are presented annually for "the most important contributions to the advancement of natural knowledge", in his case for "discovering a key aspect of cell cycle control, the protein cyclin which is a component of cyclin dependent kinases, demonstrating his ability to grasp the significance of the result outside his immediate sphere of interest".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://royalsociety.org/news.asp?year=&id=4918|title=Royal Medal recent winners|access-date=13 November 2008}}</ref>
Hunt was knighted in the [[2006 Birthday Honours]] for his service to science.<ref>Recorded in The Gazette (London Gazette), issue 58014, 16 June 2006, supplement 1. [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/58014/supplement/1]</ref>
==Personal life==
Hunt is married to the immunologist [[Mary Collins (immunologist)|Mary Collins]], who was provost of the [[Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology]] in Japan, and is now Director of the Blizard Institute Queen Mary University of London. The couple have two daughters.<ref name=whoswho/>
== Bibliography ==
*{{cite book|last1=Murray|first1=Andrew|first2=Tim|last2=Hunt|title=The Cell Cycle: An Introduction|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-509529-6|location=Oxford|year=1993|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/cellcycle00andr}}
*{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=John|last2=Hunt|first2=Tim|title=Molecular Biology of the Cell: The Problems Book|publisher=Taylor & Francis Ltd.|isbn=978-0-8153-4453-7|edition=6th|year=2014}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*Since winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2001, Hunt has lectured regularly about the joys of scientific discovery.
**{{YouTube|vgScAdoZ9w4|"How to Win a Nobel Prize", Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, 2015}}
**{{YouTube|KFxgvvdDfio|"Lessons from a Life in Science", West China School of Medicine, 2014}}
*At the 2010 Lindau Meeting, Hunt participated in a '' Nature'' video about systems biology.
**[https://www.lindau-nobel.org/the-systems-sceptic-with-tim-hunt/ "Meeting the 'systems' skeptic – with Tim Hunt"]
*In July 2015, the historian/anthropologist [[Alan Macfarlane]] conducted two in-depth interviews with Tim Hunt:
**[https://www.sms.cam.ac.uk/media/2081263 – Part One, 7 July]
**[https://www.sms.cam.ac.uk/media/2081291 – Part Two, 28 July]
* {{Nobelprize}} including the Nobel Lecture 9 December 2001 ''Protein Synthesis, Proteolysis, and Cell Cycle Transitions''
*{{google scholar id|DuqqJoEAAAAJ}}
*{{commons category-inline}}
{{FRS 1991}}
{{Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureates 2001-2025}}
{{2001 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{Francis Crick Institute}}
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[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Neston]]
[[Category:People educated at The Dragon School]]
[[Category:People educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford]]
[[Category:Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Fellows of Clare College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:English biochemists]]
[[Category:English biologists]]
[[Category:Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Royal Medal winners]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:English Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:British Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine]]
[[Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:Academics of the Francis Crick Institute]]