Sir Nurse was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of key regulators of the cell cycle. He served as Professor of Microbiology at the University of Oxford, Chief Executive Officer of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund and Cancer Research United Kingdom, and President of Rockefeller University in New York. He is now serving as Director and Chief Executive of the Francis Crick Institute and as President of the Royal Society.

The lecture began with a discussion on the three fundamental ideas of biology - gene theory, evolution by natural selection, and cells as the fundamental units of all life. The fourth idea discussed in the lecture was the organization of chemistry within cells. Sir Nurse stressed the importance of chemistry, as it provides a good mechanistic explanation of life. Furthermore, he talked about the complex nature of living things using the concept of information and systems. He explained how these ideas have shaped and influenced the way people think of science today.

When asked by one of the students about the steps Korean scientists and researchers should take in order to produce Nobel Prize winners, Sir Nurse answered that winning the Nobel Prize is not just about “being a good scientist,” but that it also requires “being at the right place at the right time.” He also emphasized the importance of “encouraging the freedom to pursue whatever scientists want to study” in order to create an environment conducive to produce Nobel Prize winners. He concluded by stating that the top-down approach, often used to guide the scientists, limits the freedom in their study and should be avoided.