Anthony A. Hyman

Hyman was born in 1962, the eldest of three children of R. Anthony Hyman, a historian of computing, and Hon. Laura Alice Boyd, daughter of the 6th Baron Kilmarnock.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=99tHEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA2547|page=2547|title=Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage|year=2019|isbn=9781999767051 |last1=Morris |first1=Susan |publisher=eBook Partnership }} He was educated at William Ellis School and St Marylebone Grammar School, University College London and the University of Cambridge, where he was awarded a PhD in 1987.{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|publisher=University of Cambridge|url=https://idiscover.lib.cam.ac.uk/permalink/f/t9gok8/44CAM_ALMA21429685020003606|doi=|title=Establishment of division axes in the early embryonic divisions of Caenorhabditis elegans|first= Anthony Arie|last=Hyman|date=1987|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.256630}}|website=cam.ac.uk|oclc=556497640}}

Hyman has focused his career on examining microtubules and how these structures of the cytoskeleton control: cell division, mitotic spindle position, and cell polarity. Hyman's research has identified how microtubules are made into cellular structures and how they are broken down.

While at King's College, Cambridge, Hyman worked under the supervision of John White and was a key researcher in Sydney Brenner's Caenorhabditis elegans group. Using microscopy and microsurgery, he examined the placement of cell axes during early cell division of C.elegans embryos. Hyman presented new findings about mechanisms of rotation by cutting microtubules with a laser beam. Hyman demonstrated that pulling forces acting from the posterior cortex on microtubules drives spindle rotation.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Hyman | first1 = A. A.

| last2 = White | first2 = J. G.

| title = Determination of cell division axes in the early embryogenesis of Caenorhabditis elegans

| journal = The Journal of Cell Biology

| volume = 105

| issue = 5

| pages = 2123–2135

| year = 1987

| pmid = 3680373

| pmc = 2114830

| doi=10.1083/jcb.105.5.2123

}}

At the University of California, San Francisco, Hyman investigated the interaction between chromosomes and microtubules that create the mitotic forces that separate chromosomes in the lab of Tim Mitchison. He also created a number of tools that are used today:

• atypical hydrolysable GTP analog GMPCPP{{Cite journal

| pmid = 1421572

| pmc = 275679

| year = 1992

| last1 = Hyman

| first1 = A. A.

| title = Role of GTP hydrolysis in microtubule dynamics: Information from a slowly hydrolyzable analogue, GMPCPP

| journal = Molecular Biology of the Cell

| volume = 3

| issue = 10

| pages = 1155–67

| last2 = Salser

| first2 = S

| last3 = Drechsel

| first3 = D. N.

| last4 = Unwin

| first4 = N

| last5 = Mitchison

| first5 = T. J.

| doi=10.1091/mbc.3.10.1155

}}

• various fluorescent tubulin derivatives{{Cite book

| pmid = 2034137

| doi = 10.1016/0076-6879(91)96041-o

| year = 1991

| last1 = Hyman

| first1 = A

| title = Molecular Motors and the Cytoskeleton

| series = Methods in Enzymology

| volume = 196

| pages = 478–85

| last2 = Drechsel

| first2 = D

| last3 = Kellogg

| first3 = D

| last4 = Salser

| first4 = S

| last5 = Sawin

| first5 = K

| last6 = Steffen

| first6 = P

| last7 = Wordeman

| first7 = L

| last8 = Mitchison

| first8 = T

| chapter = Preparation of modified tubulins

| isbn = 978-0-12-182097-8

}}.{{Cite journal

| pmid = 1832165

| year = 1991

| last1 = Hyman

| first1 = A. A.

| title = Preparation of marked microtubules for the assay of the polarity of microtubule-based motors by fluorescence

| journal = Journal of Cell Science. Supplement

| volume = 14

| pages = 125–7

| doi = 10.1242/jcs.1991.supplement_14.25

| doi-access = free

}}

• assays for motors and microtubule polarity{{Cite journal

| pmid = 2041567

| year = 1991

| last1 = Hyman

| first1 = A. A.

| title = Two different microtubule-based motor activities with opposite polarities in kinetochores

| journal = Nature

| volume = 351

| issue = 6323

| pages = 206–11

| last2 = Mitchison

| first2 = T. J.

| doi = 10.1038/351206a0

| bibcode = 1991Natur.351..206H

| s2cid = 4335093

}}

While at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Hyman along with Rebecca Heald and Eric Karsenti combined their work to create an impact on the current understanding of how the meiotic spindle self assembles.{{Cite journal

| pmid = 8684481

| year = 1996

| last1 = Heald

| first1 = R

| title = Self-organization of microtubules into bipolar spindles around artificial chromosomes in Xenopus egg extracts

| journal = Nature

| volume = 382

| issue = 6590

| pages = 420–5

| last2 = Tournebize

| first2 = R

| last3 = Blank

| first3 = T

| last4 = Sandaltzopoulos

| first4 = R

| last5 = Becker

| first5 = P

| last6 = Hyman

| first6 = A

| last7 = Karsenti

| first7 = E

| doi = 10.1038/382420a0

| bibcode = 1996Natur.382..420H

| s2cid = 4238425

}} Hyman created his first independent group at EMBL that discovered that the important factors in Xenopus egg extracts were the stabilizing protein, XMAP215 and the destabilizing protein, XKCM1.{{Cite journal

| pmid = 10620801

| year = 2000

| last1 = Tournebize

| first1 = R

| title = Control of microtubule dynamics by the antagonistic activities of XMAP215 and XKCM1 in Xenopus egg extracts

| journal = Nature Cell Biology

| volume = 2

| issue = 1

| pages = 13–9

| last2 = Popov

| first2 = A

| last3 = Kinoshita

| first3 = K

| last4 = Ashford

| first4 = A. J.

| last5 = Rybina

| first5 = S

| last6 = Pozniakovsky

| first6 = A

| last7 = Mayer

| first7 = T. U.

| last8 = Walczak

| first8 = C. E.

| last9 = Karsenti

| first9 = E

| last10 = Hyman

| first10 = A. A.

| doi = 10.1038/71330

| s2cid = 10732643

| url = https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/bitstream/123456789/14055/2/Tournebize_140552.pdf

}}

In 1999, Hyman became one of the four founding directors of Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics{{cite web |url=http://www.mpi-cbg.de/research/research-groups/anthony-hyman.html |title=Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics |accessdate=11 December 2010 |website=}} and was the Managing Director for the institute from 2010–2013. During his tenure at the MPI-CBG, Hyman and his lab members have focused on:

• Cytoplasmic organization and how cells form non-membrane bound compartments
• Size and scaling of the spindle, centrosomes, and other organelles
• Spatial control of the microtubule cytoskeleton
• Positioning of the spindle

Hyman has worked on creating parts lists for cell division among human cells as part of the EU funded projects Mitocheck{{cite web |url=http://www.mitocheck.org/ |title=MitoCheck Consortium |accessdate=24 April 2014 |website=}} and MitoSys.{{cite web |url=http://www.mitosys.org/ |title=MitoSys Consortium |accessdate=25 April 2014 |website=}}

Hyman is currently{{when|date=March 2023}} studying the mechanisms by which cells compartmentalize their biochemistry. Of his many contributions to the field of molecular biology, he is best known for two discoveries in particular: In 2000, his team pioneered the use of RNA interference to define the "parts lists" for different cytoplasmic processes. And in 2009, he, together with Cliff Brangwynne and Frank Julicher, made a fundamental breakthrough by being the first to observe that compartments in cells can form by phase separation. Aberrant phase transitions within liquid-like compartments may underlie amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative and age-related diseases. Hyman's current work focuses on the physical-chemical basis by which intrinsically disordered proteins phase separate. Using this knowledge, he is studying the roles of phase separation in physiology and disease.{{Cite web|title=Anthony Hyman – The NOMIS Foundation|url=https://nomisfoundation.ch/people/anthony-hyman/|website=nomisfoundation.ch|date=13 April 2020 |access-date=4 May 2020}}

Hyman served as a member of the Strategic Advisory Board on Science at the Wellcome Trust.{{Cite web|title=Science Strategy Advisory Group|url=https://wellcome.org/science-strategy-advisory-group|access-date=11 February 2023|website=Wellcome|language=en}}

Anthony Hyman is honorary professor at the Faculty of Biology at TU Dresden. In 2011, Hyman was awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, Germany's most prestigious research award, for his work on microtubules and cell division.{{cite web |url=http://dfg.eu/en/funded_projects/prizewinners/leibniz_prize/2011/hyman |title=DFG Leibniz Prize Winner: Prof. Dr. Anthony A. Hyman |accessdate=25 April 2014 |website=}} Hyman was elected a Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 2000 and was awarded its Gold Medal in 2003.{{Cite web|date=20 August 2020|title=EMBO Gold Medalists – Recipients – EMBO|url=https://www.embo.org/the-embo-communities/embo-gold-medalists/recipients/|access-date=11 February 2023|language=en-GB}} He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2007.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1016/j.cub.2011.02.010| pmid = 21618732| title = Tony Hyman| journal = Current Biology| volume = 21| issue = 7| pages = R240–R242| year = 2011| last1 = Hyman | first1 = T. | s2cid = 10703763| doi-access = free| bibcode = 2011CBio...21.R240H}} The Academia Europaea elected Hyman as a member in 2014 {{cite web|url=https://www.ae-info.org/ae/Acad_Main/News_Archive/New%20Members%202014|title=New members of Academia Europaea 2014|website=Academia Europaea|accessdate=20 September 2021}} and in 2017, he received the Schleiden Medal from the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.{{cite web|url=https://www.leopoldina.org/en/de/press/press-releases/press-release/press/2507/|title=Press Release|website=Leopoldina|accessdate=20 September 2021}} In 2020, he was given the NOMIS Distinguished Scientist Award by the NOMIS Foundation. Hyman was elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences in April 2020.{{cite web|url=http://www.nasonline.org/news-and-multimedia/news/2020-nas-election.html|title=2020 NAS Election|website=National Academy of Sciences|accessdate=28 April 2020}} In February 2021, Hyman was awarded the 2021 Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences for his work on biomolecular condensates.{{Cite web|title=Biomedical Sciences | Prize|url=https://www.wiley.com/en-us/foundation/prize/biomedical|access-date=11 February 2023|website=www.wiley.com|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.oaoa.com/news/business/article_f5d53623-b594-53a9-b89d-6fd25345c4e4.html|title=Dewpoint Co-Founder Anthony Hyman Wins Prestigious Wiley Prize|agency=Associated Press|website=Odessa American|access-date=25 February 2021}} He received the 2021 HFSP Nakasone Award{{Cite web |title=HFSP Nakasone Awardees |url=https://www.hfsp.org/awardees/hfsp-nakasone-award |website=Human Frontier Science Program}} together with Clifford Brangwynne and he was elected a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in 2021.{{cite web|url=https://www.leopoldina.org/en/members/list-of-members/list-of-members/member/Member/show/anthony-hyman/|title=List of members|website=Leopoldina|accessdate=20 September 2021}} In 2022, Hyman received the Körber European Science Prize 2022.{{cite web|url=https://koerber-stiftung.de/en/projects/koerber-european-science-prize/previous-prizewinners/2022-anthony-hyman-condensates/|title=Portrait Anthony Hyman|website=Körberstiftung|accessdate=5 September 2022|archive-date=2 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220902210636/https://koerber-stiftung.de/en/projects/koerber-european-science-prize/previous-prizewinners/2022-anthony-hyman-condensates/|url-status=dead}} For 2023 he was awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for discovering a fundamental mechanism of cellular organization mediated by phase separation of proteins and RNA into membraneless liquid droplets.{{Cite web|title=Breakthrough Prize – Winners Of The 2023 Breakthrough Prizes In Life Sciences, Mathematics And Fundamental Physics Announced|url=https://breakthroughprize.org/News/73|access-date=11 February 2023|website=breakthroughprize.org|language=en}}

Hyman was married to American scientist Suzanne Eaton (1959–2019); the couple had two children.ASCB Profile: Tony Hyman. In: ASCB-Newsletter, November 2012, S. 41 ([https://hymanlab.mpi-cbg.de/hyman_lab/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/ASCB-Profile-November-2012.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706125358/https://hymanlab.mpi-cbg.de/hyman_lab/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/ASCB-Profile-November-2012.pdf |date=6 July 2019 }}).

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{{FRS 2007}}

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Wellcome Trust,

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Category:Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners

Category:1962 births

Category:Living people

Category:People educated at William Ellis School

Category:Fellows of the Royal Society

Category:20th-century British biologists

Category:21st-century British biologists

Category:Alumni of University College London

Category:Alumni of King's College, Cambridge

Category:Scientists from Haifa

Category:Schleiden Medal recipients

Category:Max Planck Institute directors