Nobel prize for RGS man
HE’S one of the world’s leading scientists who has just been awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry - and he started his education on Tyneside.
And, when a boy, sitting at his desk at the Royal Grammar School in Newcastle, little did Gregory Winter know his groundbreaking work would lead to a new generation of advanced antibody drugs for conditions like arthritis and cancer.
“It came as a bit of a shock, and I felt a bit numb for a while. It’s almost like you’re in a different universe,” said Sir Greg, on hearing he had been jointly awarded the Prize.
“For a scientist, a Nobel Prize is the highest accolade you can get, and I’m so lucky because there are so many brilliant scientists and not enough Nobel Prizes to go around.”
Sir Greg, 67, who has maintained a record-breaking run for affiliates of Cambridge University, has been jointly awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, along with Frances Arnold and George Smith, for his pioneering work in using phage display for the directed evolution of antibodies, with the aim of producing new pharmaceuticals.
And, after hearing the good news, he reportedly spent £3,000 on champagne to celebrate.
The Master of Trinity College is a genetic engineer and is best known for his research and inventions relating to humanised and human therapeutic antibodies.
He is a graduate of Trinity College and was a Senior Research Fellow before becoming Master.
Sir Greg’s research career has been based almost entirely in Cambridge at the Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology and the Centre for Protein Engineering, and during this time he also founded three Cambridge biotech companies based on his inventions: Cambridge Antibody Technology (acquired by AstraZeneca), Domantis (acquired by GlaxoSmithKline) and Bicycle Therapeutics.
He becomes the 107th Affiliate of Cambridge to be awarded a Nobel Prize.
He was born in Leicester but moved to the region as a youngster and studied at the Royal Grammar School.
He then studied Natural Sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge, and was awarded his PhD, also from Cambridge, in 1977.
“It came as a bit of a shock, and I felt a bit numb for a while. It’s almost like you’re in a different universe,” said Sir Greg, on hearing he had been jointly awarded the Prize.
“For a scientist, a Nobel Prize is the highest accolade you can get, and I’m so lucky because there are so many brilliant scientists and not enough Nobel Prizes to go around.”
John Fern, head teacher at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle said: “We are absolutely delighted to hear that Sir Greg Winter, a former pupil of the Royal Grammar School, has been awarded a Nobel Prize and offer him our warmest congratulations.
“His discovery has undoubtedly affected us all in some way through the new treatments that are now possible and I really hope that this will serve as inspiration for a new generation of students who will follow his example and go out into the world to make a real difference.”
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the 2018 Prize on Wednesday with one half to Frances Arnold and the other half jointly to George Smith and Sir Gregory Winter.
The Nobel Assembly said: “The 2018 Nobel Laureates in Chemistry have taken control of evolution and used it for purposes that bring the greatest benefit to humankind.
“Enzymes produced through directed evolution are used to manufacture everything from biofuels to pharmaceuticals.
“Antibodies evolved using a method called phage display can combat autoimmune diseases and in some cases cure metastatic cancer.”
Nobel Prizes have been awarded to members of the University of Cambridge for significant advances as diverse as the discovery of the structure of DNA, the development of a national income accounting system, the mastery of an epic and narrative psychological art and the discovery of penicillin.
To date 107 affiliates of the University of Cambridge have been awarded the Nobel Prize since 1904 - spanning every category: 32 in Physics, 26 in Medicine, 25 in Chemistry, 11 in Economics, three in Literature and two in Peace. Trinity College has 33 Nobel Laureates, the most of any Cambridge college.