The Inkling Volume 2

The Man, The Myth, The Legend:
By Xavier St John
Mr Burton is one of the Physics teachers at Soham -
but he hasn’t always been a teacher. Here’s the
biography that we’ve all been waiting for - the
biography of Burton.
Burton began his life surrounded by incredible
people. His parents were well known to the scientific
community, and Burton met his first Nobel Prize
Winner at just 6 months old. As he grew up, he kept in
contact with some of the smartest brains in Britain,
occasionally even asking Nobel Prize winners for help
with his homework - he was brought up surrounded
by geniuses. At school, Burton was top of his class in
science, and he went on to do a degree in Planetary
and Space Physics.
Due to his links to some of the smartest and most well
-known people in science, when Burton was younger
he had a summer job at the Laboratory of Molecular
Biology in Cambridge. This was the start of Burton’s
career in science, but even he probably couldn’t have
guessed where it would take him. At the laboratory,
Burton was introduced to John Sulston, who was
setting up a place called the Sanger Institute (named
after Frederick Sanger). Frederick Sanger was a
smart guy - one of the only double Nobel Prize
winners in history - and was very interested in
sequencing DNA genomes. This basically means
figuring out what makes you yourself - the specific
chemicals that make up the genes to create you. The
Sanger Institute aimed to eventually sequence the
first human genome, and Sulston was interested in
working with Burton.
Burton started working at the Sanger Institute when it
officially opened in 1993. At this point, the Institute
employed about fifty people. Burton began work as a
Research Assistant, making things called ‘Terminator
Bases’ (not like the killer robot). By 1998, the Sanger
Institute had successfully sequenced a Nematode
Worm, which became one of the first examples of a
fully sequenced animal.
Shortly after Burton’s success with the Nematode
Worm, the Sanger Institute started working on
sequencing humans - something nobody had ever
successfully done before. By this time, the Sanger
Institute had grown, and Burton now managed twenty
members of staff. However, they weren’t the only
people working to sequence humans. A second
organisation, Celera Genomics, were also trying to be
the first people to ever sequence a human genome:
the race between Celera and Sanger had begun.
Burton
Celera Genomics was run by a man called Craig
Venter, who was a biochemist but, more importantly, a
businessman. Venter wanted to sequence the genome
first so he could patent it. For those who don’t know
what a patent means, it basically means that if
anybody wanted to sequence a human genome in the
future, they would - by law - have to pay Venter to do it.
Burton was instead racing to make the scientific
discovery, not to force people to pay for it. But once
the Sanger Institute heard about Venter’s plan, they
made it their goal to publish the genome worldwide so
that it was impossible for Venter to patent it.
In 1999, the first human chromosome was published.
The chromosome was the first step to sequencing the
whole genome, and guess who managed to publish it
first? Burton! His team at the Sanger Institute had
beaten Celera Genomics to the first hurdle, but still
had a long way to go until they could finish the
genome...two years, in fact. Venter had been working
furiously, desperately trying to sprint past Burton’s
team in the final stretch. He poured millions into the
project - but Burton won. In 2001, the first ever human
genome was released worldwide, preventing Venter
from patenting it and effectively making the genome
free to all. The race was over.
Burton continued working at the Sanger Institute after
this but after the genome race, the competitiveness
had disappeared. He worked on sequencing more
animals, but as his staff grew he was forced to sack
some of his colleagues. This was never a position
Burton wanted to be in, and a combination of losing
friends at the Institute and the quieter, less
competitive environment made Burton realise he
didn’t enjoy it anymore, so moved onto his current
career - teaching.
Burton started working at Soham in 2014, and after
many years of working in the fields of Biology and
Chemistry he could finally use his degree in Planetary
and Space physics to teach us about the wonders of
the universe. As probably one of the nicest and
quietest teachers I personally know, it’s almost
unbelievable to think that he has accomplished so
much in his life - who knows where it will take him
next?
Note from Mr Burton: some of this might be a bit
exaggerated, but most of it is true!