David Botstein, one of the three genome researchers who won the Dan David Award in the future dimension: we are in the development of the era of genomics and personalized medicine

This year, the Dan David Awards ceremony was held in the absence of the founder of the award. His son who spoke at the ceremony: "My father was a multidisciplinary man".

Last night, the Dan David Prize was awarded at Tel Aviv University for the 11th time, but this time the situation was different, after the founder of the prize passed away during the last year. The awards were presented by the president of Tel Aviv University, Prof. Yosef Klifter, and the head of the award committee, the former president of the university, Prof. Itamar Rabinoivets.

Dan's son, Ariel David said of him: "I wanted to thank you for coming on this special evening. I cannot hide how difficult it is for me and my mother Gabriela to be here at the first award ceremony since my father's death.

The award represents him and his personality. The multidisciplinary approach of the award reminds him. He was interested in all fields and shared everything he learned with my mother and me. If he were alive he would surely enjoy talking about the history of communism with Prof. Robert Conquest, or about the first artificial cell with Prof. Craig Venter.

The winners were, as mentioned in the past, the biographers Robert Conquest who specialized in communist Russia, and who from the archives, who were desolate from Russian researchers who lost interest in the period wrote several books about Stalin and his reign of fear, as well as the British Martin Colbert who specialized in Winston Churchill and wrote his biography. The present time dimension was won by the multidisciplinary artist William Kentridge, and the future time dimension was shared by three pioneers of the genome sequence - Prof. David Botstein, Prof. Eric Lander and Prof. Craig Venter - known as the fathers of the Human Genome Project and currently engaged in the development of living beings whose DNA is programmed by a computer .

David Botstein thanked on behalf of the three winners of the Dimension of the Future Award: "Thank you for choosing us to win the Dimension of the Future category at the Dan David Award. I thank the family and the committee. It is an honor for us. We are humbled and thank the committee for the recognition. The committee chose us because we are at the beginning of a new era in biology, the genomic era. Our increasing ability to determine, understand and manipulate biological sequences will allow us to understand the biological world and its relationship to the environment as a whole. It will enable the development of personalized medicines that will be based on the permitted differences between us as individuals on the other hand."

"The three of us were involved in different fields but overlapped at different stages of the development of the science of genomics, which together with the decoding of the genome are part of a multinational effort known collectively as the Human Genome Project. It should be emphasized that in all these stages, strenuous work was carried out by many hundreds of researchers who deserve recognition at least as much as we do."
"I personally was involved with many of my friends in the first stage, which is the understanding that the differences in DNA sequences and polymorphisms can be used to understand the origin of genetic diseases solely according to their inheritance pattern. This step created the motive, as well as the initial infrastructure for sequencing the genome."

"Eric Lander made important contributions in leading the theoretical infrastructure to the second stage, where it will not only be a question of understanding simple diseases but also more complex genetic diseases such as those from which significant parts of the population suffer. This led to an understanding of the diversity within the population and directly led to an understanding of the value of personalized medicine."
A major contribution to the genome project was made by Prof. Venter in the third phase with the need for sequencing to understand human diseases, in particular the first phase of DNA copying and the first phase of gene expression. This idea is the summation of the contribution of each of the individual groups to the understanding of the genetic process and diseases. This work by Prof. Venter was pioneering work in understanding the value of tiling and led a vast community of geneticists to study everything from eukaryotes to parts of our bodies. He recently completed the process of synthesizing the genome of a bacterium. Each of us made a separate contribution to the process, but we are all united in that the genome can move us forward to accelerate development in both basic biology and medicine."

Prof. Ruth Arnon: Genome science may add more to life expectancy and standard of living

The President of the Academy of Sciences, Prof. Ruth Arnon: "The Do David Prize is a valued prize for several reasons. First is a prestigious international award. Financially, this is one of the largest science awards in the world, and more importantly, it is awarded here in Israel. But it is also special and different from most other awards in that it is not given in a specific field or to fixed disciplines but is much broader in its perspective when it is defined through the dimensions of time: past, present and future. This allows the members of the committee to give the award to people who have contributed greatly to their understanding in the field of history on the one hand, as represented here by Dr. Robert Conquest and Sir Martin Gilbert, as well as to those who enable us to understand our lives and live our lives and enjoy their various aspects today, including the humanities, culture , and art as represented by William Kentridge, and those that we hope will improve our lives for the future, as represented by my friends Prof. David Botstein, Eric Lander and Craig Venter. Together, the award honors both the humanities and the exact sciences, which are the cornerstones of the two divisions of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Arts in Israel."

"I would like to dedicate a few words to the winners of the future award. Not because it is more important than the other two dimensions but because it is close to my area of ​​expertise. Biological research has a huge impact on our lives. As you know the average lifespan in ancient times was around 30 years. For thousands of years it has ranged from 30 to 40. The scientific revolution that began at that time increased life expectancy within a century and reached 50 at the end of the 19th century. In part, this was due to the invention of the first smallpox vaccine, which completely eradicated the disease. "

"However, the consequences of biology, including its introduction to the use of hygiene, as well as vaccinations and the discovery of antibiotics led to a 30-year extension of life expectancy in the modern world during the 20th century and to eighty years in the developed countries today. Can the trend continue? It is hoped that the study of the genome and the interpretation of the human genome are the basis for the next quantum leap. The practical applications of this revolution will be manifested in personalized medicines that will lead to an improvement in both life expectancy and quality of life in the 21st century. Awarding the Dan David Prize to three pioneers in the field is recognition of the importance of their contribution to the well-being of the human race."

"I will conclude with the Israeli Academy of Sciences' assessment of this year's intellectual prize winners. Your contribution to science and the humanities will contribute to society and make the world a better place, and they will also give additional prestige to the Dan David Award."