Are you a pioneer?

Authors: Cath Janes 

Publication date:  28 Oct 2009

Have you ever daydreamed of winning the Nobel prize for physiology or medicine? Well, you’re not alone. There are moments in every medic’s career when the cadaver dissection, the frantic shifts, or yet another day of lab data give way to dreams of glory, fame, and proving that underneath that white coat resides a true pioneer. And when it comes to being recognised for your medical endeavours, the Nobel prize is about as recognised as anyone can get. So how does it feel when those dreams really do come true?

“You are told that you can walk on water”

“Well, it’s amazing actually,” explains Professor Martin Evans, who won the prize in 2007 along with Mario R Capecci and Oliver Smithies for their work on the principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by using embryonic stem cells. “It seems really quite unbelievable. To be a Nobel prize winner put me with the scientific heroes and that makes it a dream come true. It’s a fair comment to say that I still pinch myself.”

It’s no surprise that winning the Nobel prize takes some getting used to. Awarded annually since 1901 for achievements in fields including medicine, chemistry, physiology, physics, economics, peace, and literature, the accolade has become the stuff of worldwide legend. Alfred Nobel founded the awards in his will in 1895. They are administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, and the prize includes a medal, a diploma, and a cash award, although that’s not all that winners receive.

“I was awarded the prize when I was near my planned retirement,” says Professor Evans, “And had invites to speak at conferences and meetings all over the world. I’m very graciously received by people and even get mobbed by students, especially in India, where they are keen to get my signature and pose with me for photos. The win has certainly helped me to become an inspirational figure.”

Professor Tim Hunt would agree with him. He won the Nobel prize in 2001 along with Leland H Hartwell and Sir Paul M Nurse for their discoveries of key regulators of the stem cell cycle. “I still have moments standing in the supermarket when I remember that I’m a Nobel prize winner,” he says. “It’s a kind of celebrity, especially in the third world, and it took me a year to get used to the win simply because of the weight of expectation. You are told that you can walk on water but it takes a lot of time to decide what type of water you can walk on. I was even invited to subscribe to declarations of world peace after I won. The prize takes you to peculiar places and you have to use your limited powers judiciously.”

“When we made our discovery it seemed wacky”

So it’s reassuring that even though the fame, fortune, and god-like status are bestowed with a single call from the Nobel Foundation, it’s usually bestowed on people who have their feet on the ground. Most prize winners receive the award after decades of hard work, dedication, successes, and disappointments.

What, then, does it take to win the Nobel prize? Well, the answers are as varied as the prize winners. Professor Hunt says that, for him, it is “my inquiring mind and curiosity and ability to notice the things that are significant. It’s about feeling like a little boy and seeing those shiny pebbles on the beach. My wife simply says I have the attention span of a gnat.” For Professor Evans it is “about good timing, how I have seen the development of biology, and my ability to do experimental genetics, even if I do look back and wonder if I could have been more ruthless or faster and better at what I did.”

For Dr Smithies, who won the 2007 prize alongside Professor Evans, the answer lies in his enjoyment of his work. “I started an experiment just before this interview and it’ll be done by the time we have finished,” he says. “Success is about doing the work you like and reaching the best level you are capable of. There’s no substitute for hard work even if there are moments that are dispiriting.

“There’s also a degree of self confidence involved, believing in what you have done and not doubting yourself. The science is exciting and that’s how I feel about the work rather than the prize.”

The trick also lies in not being so focused that you miss the bigger picture. Creativity has a place alongside methodical approaches and that all important dollop of luck, when you just happen to be in the right place at the right time.

“When we made our discovery it seemed wacky, but we thought it through sensibly and kept working on it. We worked hard too but were lucky because others almost made the same discovery. The difference between us and them was that they saw and missed their discovery while we chose to interpret the same result differently.” These are the words of Peter Doherty, who won the 1996 prize alongside Rolf M Zinkernagel for their work on the specificity of the cell mediated immune defence system. He’s a man who doesn’t mince his words either. He began his career at veterinary school before moving into immunology and believes, “I’m the only Nobel prize winner to have started my work with my arm up the backside of 200 cows.

“Nobel prize winners come in all shapes and sizes. There are great scientists like David Baltimore, who won the prize in 1975, and then there are those who do off-the-wall things like Barry Marshall, who won the prize in 2005 after deliberately infecting himself with the bacteria Helicobacter pylori.”

“I am more confident as a result”

There are, though, common factors among Nobel prize winners, including how they view the award and the winners. Dr Smithies and Professors Evans and Hunt were all fortunate enough to meet Nobel prize winners during their formative years in medicine, and this experience seems to have either inspired them or shown them that pioneers are also mere mortals.

Dr Smithies recalls attending lectures by Frederick Sanger, who won the prize for chemistry in 1958 and 1980. Professor Evans also met Dr Sanger as a graduate while sharing his field with Francois Jacob, who won the prize for physiology or medicine in 1965. Then there’s Professor Hunt, who recalls his own experiences: “I was exposed to several Nobel prize winners,” he explains. “People like Sydney Brenner and Francis Crick, who would lecture us or hold seminars. I never dreamed of being in the same category as they were, although they helped me realise that great scientists are human. I also knew the answers to the questions that they asked, something that was enormously encouraging to me.”

The realisation that Nobel prize winners also shop in supermarkets, have unruly toddlers, or spend time on the loo is a liberating one. The removal of that mythical status is a reminder that such a prize really could be open to anyone.

Professor Hunt brings this point into sharp focus when he recalls the impact that his prize had on his life. He says, “I am more confident as a result. In Stockholm I went out for dinner and ordered a bottle of Beaujolais, which turned out to be off. In the past I’d be nervous of complaining about it but on this occasion I just asked for another one. I had that feeling of being in command. The prize money also meant that the mortgage was paid off and I could afford to get myself an iPhone or new digital camera. For the first time in my life I didn’t have to worry about money.”

It’s also refreshing to know that there’s life beyond the Nobel prize. Professor Hunt gave this interview from his cottage in France while on holiday. He’d just been buying potatoes from the local market. Professor Evans enjoys travelling to engagements with his wife. Dr Smithies agrees that family, friends, and hobbies help insulate him from the ups and downs of his overnight fame. Then there’s Professor Doherty, who has a more unforgiving view of the Nobel prize.

“You know, it does become a job description after a while. Some winners put a year in and go back to their work, whereas others are destroyed by it. We did OK because I believe we did good science.

“It’s like talking to women about having babies. You become a member of a club because only you can truly understand the experience of winning a Nobel prize. The trick, though, is to look at what you can do with it, not at what it can do for you. If you build your prize into something that can benefit others, that’s when you win the best prize of all.”

Competing interests: None declared.

Cath Janes freelance journalist Pontypridd

 cath.janes@gmail.com