Jane Louise Hurst is the William Prescott Professor of Animal Science at the
University of Liverpool
, mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning
, established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...
. She is Head of Mammalian Behaviour & Evolution.
She studies scent communication between mammals, as well as
animal welfare and pest control. She served as the president of the
Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB) is a British organization founded in 1936 to promote ethology, and the study of animal behaviour. ASAB holds conferences, offers grants, and publishes a peer-reviewed journal, ''Animal Behavio ...
from 2010 to 2012.
Early life and education
Hurst earned her bachelor's degree in science at the
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...
.
She was inspired to study
behavioural ecology
Behavioral ecology, also spelled behavioural ecology, is the study of the evolutionary basis for animal behavior due to ecological pressures. Behavioral ecology emerged from ethology after Niko Tinbergen outlined four questions to address when ...
after reading ''Mice All Over'' by Peter Crowcroft.
She earned her
PhD in 1984 on the
behavioural ecology
Behavioral ecology, also spelled behavioural ecology, is the study of the evolutionary basis for animal behavior due to ecological pressures. Behavioral ecology emerged from ethology after Niko Tinbergen outlined four questions to address when ...
of the house mouse ''
Mus domesticus''.
During her PhD she watched wild mice in agricultural buildings, studying their social organisation and ability to live at such high
population densities
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...
.
Research and career
Hurst joined the
University of Nottingham
, mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom
, established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status
, type = Public
, chancellor ...
as a
postdoctoral researcher
A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...
in 1985, obtained a
Science and Engineering Research Council
The Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) and its predecessor the Science Research Council (SRC) were the UK agencies in charge of publicly funded scientific and engineering research activities, including astronomy, biotechnology and bi ...
(SERC) Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from 1986 to 1988, a SERC Advanced Fellowship from 1989 to 1984 and an
Agricultural and Food Research Council
The Agricultural and Food Research Council (AFRC) was a British Research Council responsible for funding and managing scientific and technological developments in farming and horticulture.
History
The AFRC was formed in 1983 from its predecessor, ...
(AFRC)/
BBSRC
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, is a non-departmental public body (NDPB), and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience. It predominantly funds scientific rese ...
Advanced Fellowship from 1994 to 1998.
Hurst works on the mechanisms and evolution of
scent communication
Animal communication is the transfer of information from one or a group of animals (sender or senders) to one or more other animals (receiver or receivers) that affects the current or future behavior of the receivers. Information may be sent int ...
in animals.
She is interested in the roles of
volatile and non-volatile
scents.
She was appointed the William Prescott Professor of Animal Science at the
University of Liverpool
, mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning
, established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...
in 1998
and Head of Mammalian Behaviour & Evolution Group.
Her main research interests are in the chemobiology of competitive signalling in mammals. Hurst became interested in the signals that determine animal
mate choice.
She is interested in how scents are used in sexual communications.
She demonstrated that the quality of an animal's
odour
An odor (American English) or odour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds that are generally found in low concentrations that humans and animals can perceive via their sense ...
determines the chances that it will be selected as a mate.
She found that female mice prefer to nest with their sisters, irrespective of whether they knew each other before.
Specifically, female house mice prefer partners that share their own
major urinary protein genotype.
In the absence of this phenotype match, females preferred partners with whom they share multiple-loci across the
genome
In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding g ...
.
Hurst identified a non-volatile
pheromone
A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...
that was released in male urine that female mice find highly attractive.
She went on to find that this
pheromone
A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...
was a
major urinary protein (MUP20), which she named
darcin after
Mr Darcy in
Jane Austen's novel ''
Pride and Prejudice''.
Hurst went on to establish that this pheromone could stimulate both short and long-term learning and that darcin and other major urinary proteins influence the odour signature that female mice learn.
She also showed that darcin increased
neurogenesis in the
olfactory bulb
The olfactory bulb (Latin: ''bulbus olfactorius'') is a neural structure of the vertebrate forebrain involved in olfaction, the sense of smell. It sends olfactory information to be further processed in the amygdala, the orbitofrontal cortex ( ...
and hippocampus. and has been involved with work that has identified a genetically determined circuit extending from the accessory
olfactory bulb
The olfactory bulb (Latin: ''bulbus olfactorius'') is a neural structure of the vertebrate forebrain involved in olfaction, the sense of smell. It sends olfactory information to be further processed in the amygdala, the orbitofrontal cortex ( ...
to the posterior medial
amygdala
The amygdala (; plural: amygdalae or amygdalas; also '; Latin from Greek, , ', 'almond', 'tonsil') is one of two almond-shaped clusters of nuclei located deep and medially within the temporal lobes of the brain's cerebrum in complex verte ...
mediating all behavioural responses to darcin. Hurst found that female mice are more attracted to male mice with their own territory.
She found that darcin and other
major urinary proteins
Major urinary proteins (Mups), also known as α2u-globulins, are a subfamily of proteins found in abundance in the urine and other secretions of many animals. Mups provide a small range of identifying information about the donor animal, when dete ...
influence the odour signature that female mice learn. She edited volume 11 of Chemical Signals in Vertebrates that followed a conference of the same name in Chester, UK.
![Professor Jane Hurst (3)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Professor_Jane_Hurst_%283%29.jpg)
Her research is directed in part to the development of humane control of rodent pests.
She also identified non-aversive handling methods that would reduce anxiety in mice, allowing them to be more reliable in laboratory tests.
[ ] Hurst developed the use of mouse-friendly handling tunnels, reducing their anxiety and allowing them to explore more during animal testing. Hurst is also interested in how animals can detect scent-cues of ill-health and disease.
] For this work, she was awarded the NC3Rs prize in 2010. Hurst is also interested in how animals can detect scent-cues of ill-health and disease.
In 2010 Hurst was appointed President for the
Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB) is a British organization founded in 1936 to promote ethology, and the study of animal behaviour. ASAB holds conferences, offers grants, and publishes a peer-reviewed journal, ''Animal Behavio ...
(ASAB).
She has supported the
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) from 2000 – 2019 by serving on grant funding and strategy advisory panels, Appointments Board, and chaired the BBSRC Animal Welfare Programme steering committee. She has supported the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research since its inception, including a founding member of the NC3Rs Board and grant funding panel (2004-2010). She has served on the Council for the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW, 1996-2002), on the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
Use of Animals in Research committee (2004-2009) and the Ethical committee for ASAB (1991-1999, chair from 1995). Hurst has been involved with several studies to improve connections between researchers in the animal welfare community. Hurst discussed her
pheromone
A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...
research on ''
In Our Time'' in 2019. In 2021 she was the guest on an episode of the
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
programme,
The Life Scientific
''The Life Scientific'' is a BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, dra ...
.
Awards and honours
Her awards and honours include:
*2017
ASAB Medal from the
Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB) is a British organization founded in 1936 to promote ethology, and the study of animal behaviour. ASAB holds conferences, offers grants, and publishes a peer-reviewed journal, ''Animal Behavio ...
*2010 National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research 3Rs Prize
*2019 Swiss Laboratory Animal Science Association Prize for Refinement
*202
Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW)Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Welfare Science
She was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the
2020 New Year Honours for services to animal welfare.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurst, Jane
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Academics of the University of Liverpool
Academics of the University of Nottingham
Alumni of the University of Birmingham
British animal welfare scholars
British ecologists
British women scientists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Biology
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Women ecologists