Learning from the Nobel Laureates

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Learning from the Nobel Laureates

• Presented by
• Dr. Hon-Ming Lam
• Department of Biology
• The Chinese University of Hong Kong

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What Constitutes to a Great Scientists?

• Curiosity
• Sensitivity
• Determination
• Dare to Challenge Authority
• Persistence
• Creativity
• Ethics
• Care for Humanity

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Alexander FlemingSensitivity Catches Luck

• In 1928, while working on influenza virus, he
  observed that a green mold (Penicillium) had
  developed accidentally on a staphylococcus
  culture plate and had created a bacteria-free
  circle around the mold.
• The antibiotic penicillin was developed based on
  this observation.
• Penicillin had saved numerous lives especially
  during WWII.
• He received the Nobel Prize on Physiology or
  Medicine in 1945.

4
Baruj BenacerrafDetermination Drives an
Entrepreneur into a Scientist

• Coming from a rich family that runs business
  enterprise
• When his father was serious sick, he took charge
  of the family business
• When his father died, he bought a bank in USA and
  continued his study in Columbia University
• In 1957, he quitted the banker job and focused on
  research
• His works contributed to the understanding of
  genetically determined structures on the cell
  surface that regulate immunological reactions
• He received the Nobel Prize on Physiology or
  Medicine in 1980

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Thomas CechBreaking a Scientific Dogma

• In the past, most scientists accepted the
  following dogma
• DNA RNA Protein Enzymatic Activities
• But the synthesis of DNA and RNA require
  enzymatic activities who came first?
• Using a protist as a study model, he showed that
  RNA has catalytic activities
• Some pharmaceutical companies are thinking of
  using this discovery to cure disease due to RNA
  viruses
• He received the Nobel Prize on Chemistry in 1989.
  

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Barbara McClintocka Model of Unflagging
Persistence

• Born in 1902
• National Academy of Sciences USA member in 1944
• Elected president of the Genetics Society of
  America in 1945
• First report on transposable elements (jumping
  genes) in 1951
• Nobel Prize on Medicine or Physiology in 1983

1920
1945
1963
1983
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James Waston and Francis CrickCreativity and
Innovation Bring Victory

• Waston and Crick built the correct DNA model
  based on data from other scientists (X-ray
  diffraction by Rosalind Franklin and base-pairing
  by Erwin Chargaff)
• They published their double helix DNA model in
  1953
• They received Nobel Prize on Medicine or
  Physiology in 1962

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James WastonEthical Controversy

• Maurice Wilkins showed James Waston a X-ray
  photograph on DNA taken by Rosalind Franklin
  without her prior approval
• Many scientists believed that this X-ray was
  critical for the building of the double helix DNA
  model Waston and Crick never acknowledged
  Franklin in their publication
• In the book Double Helix by Waston, he
  described Franklin overbearing, aggressive,
  emotional, unfeminine, and a negative
  role-model for a proper woman
• Franklin died at age 38 in 1958 and could never
  defend for herself

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Pierre Curie and Marie CurieFrom Science to
Humanity

• Before getting married, Pierre Curie wrote to
  Marie to spend life side by side, in the sway of
  our dreams your patriotic dream, our
  humanitarian dream and our scientific dream
• To test if radium could be used in therapy,
  Pierre tested it on his own skin radiotherapy
  was then born Pierre died in 1906 due to
  overwork and car accident
• During the WWI, Marie used X-rays to help in
  surgery the almost blinded Marie died of
  leukemia in 1934
• Pierre and Marie never patented their findings to
  improve their own financial situation they
  wanted everyone in need to use their inventions

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Pierre Curie and Marie CurieFrom Science to
Humanity

• Pierre and Marie received Nobel Prize on Physics
  in 1903, for the discovery of natural radioactive
  elments (such as polonim and radium)
• In 1911, Marie received Nobel Prize on Chemistry,
  for determining the atomic weight of radium.
• Their daughter Irene Joliot-Curie and their
  son-in-law Frederic Joliot-Curie received Nobel
  Prize on Chemistry in 1935, for the discovery of
  artificial radioactive elements

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Norman BorlaugScience to Fight Hunger

• In 1970, the Nobel Prize Committee awarded the
  Nobel Peace Prize to Dr. Borlaug for his efforts
  to increase world food production. The committee
  called the Green Revolution a technological
  breakthrough which makes it possible to abolish
  hunger in the developing countries in the course
  of a few years

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Norman BorlaugScience to Stop Hunger