Nobel Laureates Discussions Enrich the First Day of BioVisionAlexandria 2010
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During the proceedings of the first day of BioVisionAlexandria 2010 Conference, entitled “New Life Sciences: Future Prospects”, participants attended a number of presentations given by five Nobel Laureates.
In the first session, Peter Agre, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (2003) stated that scientific discoveries are vital but what is even more important is their applications for the benefit of humanity. In the same session, Eric Maskin, Nobel Laureate in Economics (2007), discussed the advantages and disadvantages of patents. He believes that patents are not always a good option, especially in fields like programming, in which every scientist helps push science forward and in that case patents would lead to limiting creativity and innovation.
Richard Roberts, Nobel Laureate in Medicine (1993), emphasized the importance of studying the human genome in Biology, which could lead to producing more food, developing effective anti-bacterial medicine, and producing new and effective therapies. Dr. Kurt Wüthrich, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (2002), discussed his research on proteins, and his long journey in studying genomes. He explained how the sequencing of the DNA would lead to great feats in the study of proteins. And finally, Dr. John Robin Warren, Nobel Laureate in Medicine (2005), explained his work on the discovery of gastric bacteria.
At the end of the first day, Dr. Richard Roberts emphasized that young people should have skeptical minds that do not accept all what is written or proven by grown-ups, and said that “…grown-ups are the creators of all the chaos we witness today…” He also stated that young people are the hope for a better future, and that most Nobel Laureates received their prizes at a very young age.