View source for Biography:Tim Hunt

{{Short description|British biochemist; Nobel laureate}}
{{Other people}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2016}}
{{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           = Tim Hunt at UCSF in May 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 [[Organization:Oxford University Press|Oxford University Press]]}}</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/|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=[[Biology:The EMBO 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=2015-05-15|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       = 
| citizenship       = United Kingdom
| field             = [[Biology:Cell cycle|Cell cycle]]<ref name=googlescholar>{{GoogleScholar|DuqqJoEAAAAJ}}</ref> (Biochemistry)
| work_institutions = {{Plainlist|
* [[Organization:London Research Institute|London Research Institute]]
* [[Organization:University College London|University College London]]
* Imperial Cancer Research Fund
* [[Organization:University of Cambridge|University of Cambridge]]
* [[Organization:Marine Biological Laboratory|Marine Biological Laboratory]]
* Francis Crick Institute}}
| education         = {{Plainlist|
* Dragon School
* [[Organization:Magdalen College School, Oxford|Magdalen College School, Oxford]]}}
| alma_mater        = [[Organization:University of Cambridge|University of Cambridge]] (BA, PhD)
| known_for         = Cell cycle regulation
| prizes            = {{Plainlist|
* EMBO Member (1978)<ref name=embo>{{cite web|url=http://people.embo.org/profile/tim-hunt|title=Tim Hunt|publisher=European Molecular Biology Organization|location=Heidelberg}}</ref>
* FRS (1991)<ref name=frs/>
* FMedSci (1998)
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2001)
* FRSE (2003)<ref name="HonFRSE" />
* Royal Medal (2006)
* Knight Bachelor (2006)}}
| spouse            = {{marriage|Mary Collins|1995}}<ref name=whoswho/>
| children          = Two daughters<ref name=whoswho/> 
}}

'''Sir Richard Timothy Hunt''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|FRS|FMedSci|FRSE|MAE}} (born 19 February 1943) is a British [[Biochemist|biochemist]] and molecular physiologist. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with [[Biography:Paul Nurse|Paul Nurse]] and [[Biography:Leland H. Hartwell|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 [[Biology:Cyclin|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 [[Social:Palaeography|palaeography]] in Liverpool, and Kit Rowland, daughter of a timber merchant.<ref name="thunt">{{cite web |url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2001/hunt-autobio.html |title=Tim Hunt – Autobiography|access-date=13 November 2008| 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 German teacher, Gerd Sommerhoff.<ref name="thunt" /> When he was fourteen, he moved to [[Organization:Magdalen College School, Oxford|Magdalen College School, Oxford]], where the science prizes now bear his name, becoming even more interested in science and studying subjects such as chemistry and zoology.<ref name="thunt" /><ref>{{Cite journal|title = Pursuing the impossible: an interview with Tim Hunt|last = Hunt|first = Tim|date = 8 August 2015|journal = BMC Biology|doi = 10.1186/s12915-015-0164-y|pmid = 26253553|volume=13|pages=64|pmc=4528683 | doi-access=free }}{{Open access}}</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkF6HEB2qgY Creative Breakthroughs | Tim Hunt | TEDxLancasterU]</ref><ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0184rfy BBC Radio 4 interview with Jim Al-Khalili on ''The Life Scientific'']</ref>

In 1961, he was accepted into [[Organization:Clare College, Cambridge|Clare College, Cambridge]] to study 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 Tony Hunter.<ref name="thunt" /> A 1965 talk by Vernon Ingram interested him in [[Biology:Hemoglobin#Synthesis|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 [[Organization:Albert Einstein College of Medicine|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 [[Biology:Rabbit|rabbit]] [[Biology:Reticulocyte|reticulocyte]]s (immature [[Biology:Red blood cell|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 [[Chemistry:Glutathione|glutathione]] inhibited [[Biology:Protein biosynthesis|protein synthesis]] in reticulocytes and that tiny amounts of [[Biology:RNA|RNA]] killed the synthesis altogether. After returning to Cambridge, he again began work with Tony Hunter and [[Biography: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 [[Organization:Marine Biological Laboratory|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 [[Biology:Mitosis|mitosis]]. The location provided a ready supply of surf clams and sea urchins 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 in the Summer of 1982, using the [[Biology:Sea urchin|sea urchin]] (''Arbacia punctulata'') egg as his model organism, that he discovered the [[Biology:Cyclin|cyclin]] molecule.<ref name="thunt" /> Hunt was a keen cyclist and named the protein based on his observation of the cyclical changes in its levels.<ref>{{Cite web|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/|website = Cancer Research UK – Science blog| date=6 October 2014 |access-date = 24 October 2015}}</ref>

Cyclins are [[Biology:Protein|protein]]s that play a key role in regulating the cell-division cycle.<ref name="illpres">{{cite web | url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2001/7743-the-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine-2001/ | title=The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2001 | publisher=Nobel Prize Outreach | accessdate=8 August 2022}}</ref> Hunt found that cyclins begin to be synthesised after the eggs are fertilised and increase in levels during [[Biology:Interphase|interphase]], until they drop very quickly in the middle of [[Biology:Mitosis|mitosis]] in each [[Biology:Cell division|cell division]]. He also found that cyclins are present in [[Biology:Vertebrate|vertebrate]] cells, where they also regulate the cell cycle. He and others subsequently showed that cyclins bind and activate a family of protein [[Biology:Kinase|kinase]]s, now called the [[Biology:Cyclin-dependent kinase|cyclin-dependent kinase]]s, one of which had been identified as a crucial cell cycle regulator by [[Biography:Paul Nurse|Paul Nurse]]. The cyclin mechanism of cell division is fundamental to all living organisms (excluding bacteria) and thus the study of the process in simple organisms helps shed light on the growth of tumours in humans.<ref name=":1" />

===Later career===
[[File:OIST BOG Members After Meeting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 4 October 2013 20131004.jpg|thumb|200px|with [[Biography:Cherry A. Murray|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 [[Organization:London Research Institute|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> Hunt had his own laboratory at the Clare Hall Laboratories until the end of 2010, and remains an [[Social:Emeritus|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 [[Organization:Campaign for Science and Engineering|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.<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>

====Controversy====
In June 2015, Hunt became the target of an [[Online shaming|online shaming campaign]] after remarks he made at a science journalism conference.<ref name="McKie">{{Cite news |last=McKie |first=Robin |date=June 13, 2015 |title=Tim Hunt: 'I've been hung out to dry. They haven't even bothered to ask for my side of affairs' |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jun/13/tim-hunt-hung-out-to-dry-interview-mary-collins |access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref> The controversy forced his resignation from several key research and policy positions, including the European Research Council, and a temporary withdrawal from public life and professional activities.<ref name="McKie2015-12">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/dec/19/tim-hunt-mary-collins-weve-not-been-chased-out-of-the-country|title=Tim Hunt and Mary Collins: 'We're not being chased out of the country. Our new life's an adventure'|work=The Guardian|date=19 December 2015|access-date=28 December 2015|author=Robin McKie}}</ref>

== Awards and honours ==
Hunt was elected a member of the 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/> He was elected a 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=2015-11-17|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/tim-hunt-11666/|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=bot: unknown |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|df=dmy-all}}</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 [[Biology:Eukaryote|eukaryotic]] cell cycle. Together with Jackson and their students, he defined steps in formation of the initiation complex in protein synthesis, showing that the [[Biology:Eukaryotic small ribosomal subunit (40S)|40S ribosomal subunit]] binds initiator tRNA before it binds [[Biology:MRNA|mRNA]], and that this step was the target of inhibitors such as double-stranded RNA or [[Biology:Heme|haem]] deficiency. They showed that inhibition of protein synthesis is mediated by reversible [[Biology:Phosphorylation|phosphorylation]] of initiation factor eIF-2 by two distinct protein kinases and they elucidated the unexpected roles of [[Biology:Thioredoxin|thioredoxin]] and [[Biology:Thioredoxin reductase|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 [[Biology:Complementary DNA|cDNA]] from sea urchins and [[Biology:Xenopus|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 (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 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 [[Biography:Leland H. Hartwell|Leland Hartwell]] and [[Biography:Paul Nurse|Paul Nurse]] for their discoveries regarding [[Biology:Cell cycle|cell cycle]] regulation by [[Biology:Cyclin|cyclin]] and [[Biology:Cyclin-dependent kinase|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|df=dmy-all}}</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, who was provost of the [[Organization:Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology|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/>

== Selected publications ==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Mochida|first1=Satoru|last2=Maslen|first2=Sarah L|last3=Skehel|first3=Mark|last4=Hunt|first4=Tim|title=Greatwall phosphorylates an inhibitor of protein phosphatase 2Α that is essential for mitosis|journal=Science|year=2010|volume=330|issue=6011|pages=1670–1673|doi=10.1126/science.1195689|pmid=21164013|bibcode=2010Sci...330.1670M|s2cid=11473305|url=https://kumadai.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=24661&item_no=1&attribute_id=21&file_no=1 }}
*{{cite journal|last1=Mochida|first1=Satoru|last2=Hunt|first2=Tim|title=Calcineurin is required to release Xenopus egg extracts from meiotic M phase|journal=Nature|year=2007|volume=449|issue=7160|pages=336–340|doi=10.1038/nature06121|pmid=17882219|bibcode=2007Natur.449..336M}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Rouse|first1=John|last2=Cohen|first2=Philip|last3=Trigon|first3=Sylviane|last4=Morange|first4=Michel|last5=Alonso-Llamazares|first5=Ana|last6=Zamanillo|first6=Daniel|last7=Hunt|first7=Tim|last8=Nebreda|first8=Angel R.|title=A novel kinase cascade triggered by stress and heat shock that stimulates MAPKAP kinase-2 and phosphorylation of the small heat shock proteins|journal=Cell|volume=78|issue=6|year=1994|pages=1027–1037|issn=0092-8674|doi=10.1016/0092-8674(94)90277-1|pmid=7923353|s2cid=19895515}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Evans|first1=Tom|last2=Rosenthal|first2=Eric T.|last3=Youngblom|first3=Jim|last4=Distel|first4=Dan|last5=Hunt|first5=Tim|title=Cyclin: A protein specified by maternal mRNA in sea urchin eggs that is destroyed at each cleavage division|journal=Cell|volume=33|issue=2|year=1983|pages=389–396|issn=0092-8674|doi=10.1016/0092-8674(83)90420-8|pmid=6134587|doi-access=free}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Farrell|first1=Paul J.|last2=Balkow|first2=Ken|last3=Hunt|first3=Tim|last4=Jackson|first4=Richard J.|last5=Trachsel|first5=Hans|title=Phosphorylation of initiation factor eIF-2 and the control of reticulocyte protein synthesis|journal=Cell|volume=11|issue=1|year=1977|pages=187–200|issn=0092-8674|doi=10.1016/0092-8674(77)90330-0|pmid=559547|s2cid=20514410}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Poon|first1=R. Y.|last2=Yamashita|first2=K.|last3=Adamczewski|first3=J. P.|last4=Hunt|first4=T.|last5=Shuttleworth|first5=J.| year=1993|title=The cdc2-related protein p40MO15 is the catalytic subunit of a protein kinase that can activate p33cdk2 and p34cdc2|journal=EMBO Journal|volume=12|issue=8|pages=3123–3132|pmid=8393783|pmc=413578|doi=10.1002/j.1460-2075.1993.tb05981.x}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Nebreda|first1=A.R.|last2=Hunt|first2=T.|year=1993|title=The c-mos proto-oncogene protein kinase turns on and maintains the activity of MAP kinase, but not MPF, in cell-free extracts of Xenopus oocytes and eggs|journal=EMBO J|volume=12|issue=5|pages=1979–1986|pmid=8387916|pmc=413419|doi=10.1002/j.1460-2075.1993.tb05847.x}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Craig|first1=D.|last2=Howell|first2=M.T.|last3=Gibbs|first3=C.L.|last4=Hunt|first4=T.|last5=Jackson|first5=R.J.|year=1992|title=Plasmid cDNA-directed protein synthesis in a couple eukaryotic in vitro transcription-translation system|journal=Nucleic Acids Res.|volume=20|issue=19|pages=4987–4995|pmid=1383935|doi=10.1093/nar/20.19.4987|pmc=334274}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Standart|first1=N.|last2=Dale|first2=M.|last3=Stewart|first3=E.|last4=Hunt|first4=T.|year=1990|title=Maternal mRNA from clam oocytes can be specifically unmasked in vitro by antisense RNA complementary to the 3' untranslated region|journal=Genes Dev.|volume=4|issue=12a|pages=2157–2168|pmid=2148535|doi=10.1101/gad.4.12a.2157|doi-access=free}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Gautier|first1=J.|last2=Minshull|first2=J.|last3=Lohka|first3=M.|last4=Glotzer|first4=M.|last5=Hunt|first5=T.|last6=Maller|first6=J.L.|year=1990|title=Cyclin is a component of MPF from Xenopus|journal=Cell|volume=60|issue=3|pages=487–494|pmid=1967981|doi=10.1016/0092-8674(90)90599-a|s2cid=744044}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Standart|first1=N.|last2=Minshull|first2=J.|last3=Pines|first3=J.|last4=Hunt|first4=T.|year=1987|title=Cyclin synthesis, modification and destruction during meiotic maturation of the starfish oocyte|journal=Dev. Biol.|volume=124|issue=1|pages=248–258|pmid=15669148|doi=10.1016/0012-1606(87)90476-3}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Minshull|first1=J.|last2=Hunt|first2=T.|year=1986|title=The use of single-stranded DNA and RNase H to promote quantitative 'hybrid arrest of translation' of mRNA/DNA hybrids in reticulocyte lysate cell-free translations|journal=Nucleic Acids Res.|volume=14|issue=16|pages=6433–6451|pmid=3018671|doi=10.1093/nar/14.16.6433|pmc=311656}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Hunt|first1=T.|last2=Herbert|first2=P.|last3=Campbell|first3=E.A.|last4=Delidakis|first4=C.|last5=Jackson|first5=R.J.|year=1983|title=The use of affinity chromatography on 2'-5'ADP- Sepharose reveals a requirement for NADPH, thioredoxin and thioredoxin reductase for the maintenance of high protein synthesis activity in rabbit reticulocyte lysates|journal=Eur. J. Biochem.|volume=131|issue=2|pages=303–311|pmid=6299735|doi=10.1111/j.1432-1033.1983.tb07263.x|doi-access=free}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Rosenthal|first1=E.T.|last2=Hunt|first2=T.|last3=Ruderman|first3=J.V.|year=1980|title=Selective translation of mRNA controls the pattern of protein synthesis during early development of the surf clam, Spisula solidissima|journal=Cell|volume=20|issue=2|pages=487–494|pmid=7190072|doi=10.1016/0092-8674(80)90635-2|s2cid=8632207}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Hunter|first1=A.R.|last2=Hunt|first2=T.|last3=Knowland|first3=J.S.|last4=Zimmern|first4=D.|year=1976|title=Messenger RNA for the coat protein of tobacco mosaic virus|journal=Nature|volume=260|issue=5554|pages=759–764|pmid=1264250|doi=10.1038/260759a0|bibcode=1976Natur.260..759H|s2cid=4200275}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Darnbrough|first1=C.H.|last2=Legon|first2=S.|last3=Hunt|first3=T.|last4=Jackson|first4=R.J.|year=1973|title=Initiation of protein synthesis: evidence for messenger RNA- independent binding of methionyl transfer RNA to the 40S ribosomal subunit|journal=J. Mol. Biol.|volume=76|issue=3|pages=379–403|pmid=4732074|doi=10.1016/0022-2836(73)90511-1}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Kosower|first1=N.S.|last2=Vanderhoff|first2=G.A.|last3=Benerofe|first3=B.|last4=Hunt|first4=T.|last5=Kosower|first5=E.M.|year=1971|title=Inhibition of protein synthesis by glutathione disulfide in the presence of glutathione|journal=Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun.|volume=45|issue=3|pages=816–821|pmid=5128185|doi=10.1016/0006-291x(71)90490-6}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Ehrenfeld|first1=E.|last2=Hunt|first2=T.|year=1971|title=Double-stranded poliovirus RNA inhibits initiation of protein synthesis by reticulocyte lysates|journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA|volume=68|issue=5|pages=1075–1078|pmid=4325000|pmc=389116|doi=10.1073/pnas.68.5.1075|bibcode=1971PNAS...68.1075E|doi-access=free}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Hunt|first1=T.|last2=Hunter|first2=A.R.|last3=Munro|first3=A.J.|year=1968|title=Control of haemoglobin synthesis: distribution of ribosomes on the messenger RNA for a and b chains|journal=J. Mol. Biol.|volume=36|issue=1|pages=31–45|pmid=5760537|doi=10.1016/0022-2836(68)90217-9}}
*{{cite book|last1=Murray|first1=Andrew|first2=Tim|last2=Hunt|title=The Cell Cycle: An Introduction|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0195095296|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=978-0815344537|edition=6th|year=2014}}
{{div col end}}

==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. 
*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}}

{{Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureates 2001-2025}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Tim}}
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine]]

{{Sourceattribution|Tim Hunt}}