Professor John Paul

MB, ChB, PhD, FRCPEdin, FRCPGlas, FRCPath, FIBiol, FRSE, HonDScGlas
1922 - 1994

Early Career

Professor John Paul was born in Wishaw in Strathclyde. He was the founding director of

the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, near Glasgow, until his retirement in 1987 (1).

Professor John Paul qualified initially in medicine, graduating from Glasgow University

with an MB ChB in 1944, then went on to complete a PhD in biochemistry, a relatively

new discipline in those days. He was the Ure scholar at Glasgow University 1948-51 and the

McCunn scholar, University of Edinburgh, followed by a research fellowship (Rockefeller

travelling research fellowship) in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York in

1952–53. He became director of the Tissue Culture Laboratories of the Department of

Biochemistry in the University of Glasgow and became a reader in 1962 and a Titular

Professor in 1964. He left Glasgow University in 1966 to become Director of the Cancer

Research Laboratories of the Royal Beatson Memorial Hospital in Glasgow.

The Beatson Institute for Cancer Research

He founded the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in these laboratories in 1970

and moved the Institute to the new, purpose-built premises in 1976 (1). S.B. Kaye in his proposal for Professor Paul to be awarded an Honorary Doctorate, wrote 'The subsequent transformation of the Department into the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research...was entirely due to John Paul's determination and energy'. While at the Beatson, he became an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of Pathology at the University of Glasgow and an Honorary Professor in the Department of Biochemistry in the University of Hull.

The Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow (renamed in 2023 and taken under the wing of Cancer Research UK) was one of only four such institutes in the country at the time, and an internationally acclaimed centre for excellence in cancer research. He obtained support from the Wolfson Foundation to construct a new and sophisticated laboratory, suitable for the highly advanced technology now required. He also proposed the fundamental design of the laboratory.

He was supported throughout his career by many prestigious granting authorities, such as the Medical Research Council, the Scottish Hospitals Endowment Research Trust, the National Institutes of Health of the USA and latterly, was awarded substantial and continued support from the Cancer Research Campaign.

Publications

His ability to recognise areas of biomedical research at the forefront of scientific progress was to be a hallmark of his whole career (9). He was among the first few scientists throughout the world to realise that culture of human and mammalian cells in the laboratory was to become a key tool in the development of research into the biology of cells. He helped to advance this technique, ran several courses to pass it on to others, and wrote what became the authoritative text on the subject entitled ‘Cell Biology’. He also wrote another text which became core reading for researchers entitled ‘Cell and Tissue Culture’. John Pitts, writing in the newsletter of the British Society for Cell Biology' stated " when he (John Paul) published the first edition of 'Cell and Tissue Culture' a book which guided a whole generation of research workers." (10) S.B Kaye in his proposal for an Honorary Doctorate for Professor Paul, stated "His book 'Cell Biology' was to become the standard in its field for many years". In this proposal Kaye also states 'Progress in cancer research in the past 25 years has been remarkable, and in any international league of top contributors, John Paul would always be at the very top'.

Patenting of first apparatus for culture of cells and tissues

He was the first scientist to patent an ‘Apparatus for culture of Biological Cells and Tissues’ in the United States Patent Office (patent number US2975553A) and also the UK patent office (patent applications 26639/57, effective 1961 – 1977 and 12863/58 effective 1962 – 1978). He assigned the latter to the Scottish Hospital Endowment Research Trust in 1958. In an article by Uysal, Sevimli et al, they describe the importance of cell culture as follows 'Cell culture underpins the production of monoclonal antibody, vaccine, enzyme, hormone, interleukin, and some growth factors. Also, cell culture studies serve many fields such as toxicology studies, development of new drugs, and cell or stem cell therapy methods. Nowadays especially in parallel with the improvements that are experienced in stem cell and the field of genetics, cell culture studies have come to an important place in biotechnology, cell therapy, and regenerative medicine field. Scientists around the world make use of cell culture techniques on a daily basis (2).

Derivation of world's first embryonic stem cells

In 1965 /66 Robert Edwards (sometimes referred to as the 'father of IVF') commuted to Glasgow in order to work with Professor John Paul at the Beatson Institute to derive the world's first embryonic stem cells from mice. This was successful.

In an article which describes the interaction between Professor Paul and Robert Edwards, Martin H Johnson describes John Paul as the 'then acknowledged master of tissue culture in the UK'. He also describes the resulting papers (5,6) from this collaboration as 'remarkable for their prescience' and goes on to elaborate by saying 'These experiments were initiated some 20 years before Evans and Kaufman (1981) described the derivation of embryonic stem cells from mice. That this work has largely been ignored by those in the stem cell field is probably mainly attributable to its being too far ahead

of its time. Thus, reliable molecular markers for different types of cells were not available

then, nor were appropriate techniques with which to critically test the developmental

potential of the cultured cells.' (3). The collaboration with Edwards is also mentioned in an article in the

'Human Reproduction Update' publication entitled 'The early days of IVF'.

International reputation

Professor Paul had a distinguished reputation in his field internationally, as exemplified

by his many invitations to present at international meetings and the acclaim attributed

to his number scientific publications. During his most productive years, he was listed

as one of the 1000 most cited contemporary scientists in the world (1965 - 1978).

Web of Science currently holds 15 articles produced by Professor Paul, and the team at

the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, in their Core Collection between 1980 and

1985 (4).

His achievements were ultimately recognised by his university by the award of the

honorary DSc from Glasgow University. The proposal for this honour was made by

S. B. Kaye, Professor of Medical Oncology of the Cancer Research Campaign. In this

proposal, S.B. Kaye states 'The new (Beatson Institute) building was opened in October

1976, and the stage was set for a period of basic cancer research of the highest quality.

Through his scientific leadership, John Paul was able to gather round him a group of scientists of outstanding ability, and major contributions in areas such as viral and chemical carcinogenesis and more recently the identification and functioning of oncogenes have emanated from these laboratories over the past 12 years.'

Professor Sir Alastair Currie, in his address to the attendees at a symposium set up to honour his achievements at the time of his retirement, stated 'His scientific leadership, vision, energy, tenacity, meticulous attention to detail and his remarkable fund-raising achievements are universally recognised. Many scientists of international renown have worked with him in one capacity or other: as PhD students, post-doctoral scientists, members of staff, Visiting Fellows. This applies to most of the contributors at the

Symposium.' The speakers at this symposium included Professor Sir Alastair Currie giving the Introduction, F.H. Ruddle (Yale University), S. B. Krantz (Vanderbilt, Nashville), R.S. Gilmour (Cambridge University), D. Weatherall (Oxford University), R. Williamson (London University), R.G. Edwards (Cambridge University) and John Wyke (successive Director of the Beatson Institute).

The John Paul Career Award was also set up in his honour providing finance for Scottish Third Year PhD students. His obituaries were published in The Independent, The Herald and the British Medical Journal.