Ask the Right Questions at the Right Time

Nobel Prize for Medicine/Physiology, 1989

J. Michael Bishop received the 1989 Nobel Prize for Medicine/Physiology for his discovery that normal cells contain genes capable of becoming cancerous. He shared the award with Dr. Harold Varmus. Dr. Bishop currently teaches and studies microbiology at the University of California, San Francisco.

Science and music equally attracted the interest of Dr. J. Michael Bishop. When he was growing up he was torn between which one to pursue. By participating in both, he came to realize that his talents were more suited for a career in science. But he didn't give up his music.

During his college years, Dr. Bishop considered several careers including journalism, teaching music and forestry. Even when he entered Harvard Medical School, Dr. Bishop was uncertain about wanting to practice medicine. But with the help and influence of teachers and friends, he realized that research was the path he wanted to take. He made that decision at the age of 30. Dr. Bishop became intrigued by microbiology by reading about it on his own. He was eventually steered to the study of how cells become cancerous.

Dr. Bishop and Dr. Varmus discovered that genes can switch normal cells into cancer when viruses invade those genes. Because of this discovery, much progress has been made in the diagnosis and prognosis of cancer.

To anyone who believes science is incomprehensible or boring, Dr. Bishop says it is not so. "Think of the sperm and the egg: they join to form one microscopically small cell from which grows the entire human organism: all our astonishing capabilities... Think of the million or more species that inhabit the earth, animals and plants alike, all linked by a genetic kinship that was formed by the sculpting hand of evolution ... Think of the night sky: astronomers calculate that the number of stars is so great, the night sky should be a sheet of light - but it is not ... Think of the universe:how far does it extend; does it really come around on itself as Einstein proposed .... These are the things with which science deals. How can anyone find them boring?"

Dr. Bishop says that everyone "should be able to understand science and what it does. You need not be a scientist to enjoy and understand the wonders of nature."

Dr. Bishop didn't start out with a certainty that he would study cells, or even that he would be a scientist. He says that students shouldn't feel pressure to be certain early on, either. His advice is don't necessarily premeditate your journey ... let your instincts take you to your career choice.

"The good scientist is not a drudge who collects facts like stamps and then searches these for a lucky conclusion: the good scientist chooses a problem of nature, imagines an answer, and then tests to see whether imagination has been right. In science, imagination leads the way. Without imagination, without intellectual daring, science is dead. The scientist lives by a nature of the mind, taking great risks: every morning, we face the prospect that we will be wrong once again. But occasionally, we are right, and that can bring ecstasy, even for the most humble insight."

"There can be many paths to the same goal," says Dr. Bishop. Follow your nose, it may lead to an amazing place."

Adapted from Curiosity is the Key to Discovery: The Story of How Nobel Laureates Entered the World of Science, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 1992

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