He studied natural sciences (biochemistry) at Emmanuel College, Cambridge from 1925 to 1929, and became a demonstrator after graduating.
He served as chairman of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) scientific committee for several years.
From 1932, he worked with Ashley Miles on the Brucella bacteria responsible for brucellosis, and with Frederick Bawden on potato viruses.
[5] During the Second World War, Pirie investigated the possibility of extracting edible proteins from leaves.
[4] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1949, delivered its Leeuwenhoek Lecture in 1963 and won its Copley Medal in 1971 for his virology work.