I had a great time investigating the pigments of different mutant fruit flies by following experimental protocols published in Scientific American, and I also remember making my own beetle collection when it was still acceptable to make such collections.

My main efforts focussed on trying to identify the rate controlling steps during the cell cycle. Crucial for this analysis were wee mutants that were advanced prematurely through the cell cycle and so divided at a reduced cell size.

I think it was this curiosity about the natural world which awoke my early interest in science.

I have an idealistic view of science as a liberalising and progressive force for humanity.

During the winter my attention was attracted to the changes in the stars and planets in the sky.

At age 11 in 1960, I moved to an academic state secondary school, Harrow County Grammar School for Boys.

My parents were born in Norfolk and spent their early years working in the big houses of that rural English county, my mother as a cook and my father as a handyman and chauffeur.