(Image: Wikipedia)
Tim Hunt is best known for winning the Nobel Prize in medicine for working on cell duplication in 2001. But after proclaiming himself a chauvinist by announcing that labs should be segregated by gender at an invitation-only lunch in honor of women in science, well, let’s just say the 72-year-old scientist won’t be popular in any modern-day events.
“Thanks to the women journalists for making lunch,” Hunt opened with his speech. Hunt later ranted, “Let me tell you about my trouble with girls. Three things happen when they are in the lab: You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticize them, they cry! I’m in favor of single-sex labs.”
The luncheon took place at the World Conference of Science Journalists in Seoul, South Korea. And while his comments weren’t recorded, scientists expressed their distaste on social media and even created a “post-hoc transcript.” “I was gobsmacked,” said Ivan Oransky, co-founder of the Retraction Watch blog, in an interview with BuzzFeed News. “I wouldn’t treat them as quotes, per se, given the circumstances, but they’re the words he used.”
With Hunt a member of the Royal Society, an ages-old organization that encourages STEM practices in Britain, the organization quickly distanced themselves from Hunt. “Too many talented individuals do not fulfill their scientific potential because of issues such as gender and the Society is committed to helping to put this right,” the organization later released in a statement. “Sir Tim Hunt was speaking as an individual and his reported comments in no way reflect the views of the Royal Society.”
Hunt hasn’t spoken since the incident but it's gonna be hard for him to recover from something this offensive.
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