Says Prof. Kurt Wothrich, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2002, who will be one of the participants in the event to salute sixty years of science in the State of Israel that will be held at the Technion in preparation for Independence Day. * A special interview for the knowledge site
Prof. Kurt Wethrich, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2002, is one of ten Nobel Prize winners who will participate in a special salute event in honor of sixty years of science in the State of Israel, which will be held at the Technion in preparation for next Independence Day. Professor Michael Aviram from the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion, the organizer of the event, said that the response to the Technion's initiative by the Nobel laureates was great and enthusiastic.
In an interview with the Hidaan website, Wothrich says that he loves Israel very much and has visited here many times, and he is in contact with many scientists in the country, especially in connection with the basic science in his field, which is the spatial analysis of the structure of large proteins, especially biological proteins, using NMR systems.
What will you talk about in your lecture?
"I will talk about the developments in the fields of structural biology and structural genomics (Structural Biology, Genomic) and I will focus on the use of NMR spectroscopy (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy) in these fields. In recent decades, the use of NMR has developed as an important technology in structural biology and as a tool for medical diagnosis. The basic field that enables the establishment of NMR systems was discovered in 1926 and the first Nobel Prize in Physics for the basic discovery was given in 1952, but at that time this technique was used mainly for analyzing structures in physics and to a lesser extent in chemistry. Following the developments in the last 40 years, the use of NMR has become a basic technique in biological sciences and medical diagnosis. I won the Nobel Prize in 2002 for the development of the NMR method, and its extension to the study of proteins. A year later, the developers of the medical imaging systems using the NMR method won the Nobel Prize."
Do you know the other Nobel laureates who will participate in the seminar?
"I met most of the Nobel laureates who are expected to participate in the event, both the Israelis and the others. It would be very nice to meet them again. I have met Prof. Chechanover and Prof. Uman many times, with Prof. Hershko this will be my first meeting. By the way, there is also a professional relationship with Prof. Hershko and Prof. Tschanover, we deal with proteins from the same family related to protein breakdown. I actually developed the method used by Hershko and Czahnover to investigate the proteins and the proteins that I study are very close to those that Hershko and Czahnover investigate. "
What do you know about your field in Israel and Israeli science in general?
"I wish my colleagues that they can continue to create fruitful breakthroughs in basic science for many years to come. I have colleagues in Israel in the field of NMR spectroscopy, most of them at the Weizmann Institute and Tel Aviv University. I was in Israel many times in the eighties, and even organized a seminar in 1987 and traveled in the north and south, almost all over the country. Unfortunately, I have not visited Israel in the last decade because the joint project I did with Israeli scientists was stopped, but I am very happy to go back and visit. I am very familiar with the articles published in the scientific journals and of course I have also listened to the lectures of Israeli scientists at international conferences. I am also aware that in Israel great efforts are being made to establish companies based on basic scientific knowledge, but unfortunately I am not well versed in this part."
What do you think about the repeated attempts to impose an academic boycott on Israel, especially in Europe?
I don't like the connection between science and politics. Unfortunately, the connection is inevitable. I also believe that this is a wrong idea. Science can only flourish if there are free connections between scientists all over the world.
Who do you think universities should trust, government money or private money?
In my opinion, universities must take advantage of both types of funding sources in order to maintain the high level of basic research. More and more private money will be important, in addition to public funds. It is important that the basic research be financed by government money, otherwise there is a danger that science may be subject to limitations that will harm the academic freedom of the individual researcher. It will also harm the ability to have research institutes that have public access to their research.
In conclusion Prof. Wothrich says: I would love to visit Israel, meet old friends, and see what has changed since my last visit.
Ten Nobel laureates at the salute event
Ten Nobel laureates will participate in a special salute event in honor of sixty years of science in the State of Israel, which will be held at the Technion in preparation for next Independence Day. Professor Michael Aviram from the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion, the organizer of the event, said that the response to the Technion's initiative by the Nobel laureates was great and enthusiastic.
The Nobel laureates who will participate in the event that will be held at the Technion campus on Monday, May 19, 2008, will be:
Prof. Robert Uman from Israel, winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Economics;
Prof. Gunter Blubel from the USA, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1987
Prof. David Gross from the USA, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2004;
Prof. Tim Hunt from Great Britain, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine for 2001;
Prof. Avraham Hershko from Israel, winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry;
Prof. Kurt Wuttrich from Switzerland, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2002;
Prof. Elie Wiesel from the USA, winner of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize;
Prof. Jean-Marie Len from France, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1987;
Prof. Farid Mord from the USA, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine for 1998;
Prof. Aharon Chachanover from Israel, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2004;
The event will be opened by the president of the Technion, Professor Yitzhak Apluig, with a lecture on the topic: "From Chemistry to Medicine". The guest lectures will include diverse and fascinating topics such as "from basic to applied science", "science as an adventure", and "the future of physics".
The event will be open to the general public and scientists and students from all over the country will be invited to it. The Nobel laureates will meet with outstanding students and scientists in their fields of research, visit the relevant faculties at the Technion and travel in the north of the country.
