The adventures of a Nobel laureate in Siberia
Nobel laureate Kornberg hopes for the help of the Russian government
in the development of Siberian science
Dina Golubeva, "Academy of News"On the afternoon of May 17, the Great Hall of the House of Scientists of the SB RAS turned out to be almost full.
A lot of people gathered to listen to the lecture of the 2006 Nobel Prize laureate, Professor Roger David Kornberg of Stanford University.
Dr. Kornberg's report, or rather public lecture, was devoted to the molecular mechanisms of transcription – the process of "reading" genetic information encoded in DNA. Six years ago, the scientist was awarded the Nobel Prize for recreating the structure of molecules that transfer information from DNA to RNA in all nuclear organisms (from humans to yeast).
Photo by Maria Rogova, press service of the Presidium of the SB RAS
According to the young scientists who came to the DU SB RAS, the lecture turned out to be very interesting and contained previously unknown information. "I work in another field of science and I don't know how new everything Mr. Kornberg has told me is, but I have learned a lot of interesting things for myself. In the university course, many details of the regulation of the transcription process were omitted," says one of the listeners.
According to the representatives of the SB RAS who organized the meeting with the American biochemist, initially it was impossible to guess how many people would want to listen to the lecture: 30 or 300? Therefore, we had to remove both halls: Small and Large. As a result, according to the number of people who came, it could be concluded that the Nobel laureate Kornberg is not inferior in popularity to the chief conductor of the Novosibirsk Academic Symphony Orchestra Rinkevicius.
Roger Kornberg himself speaks about his Nobel fame with humor. "There are good and bad sides to being a Nobel laureate. Of course, it is good that the award opens up many opportunities for you, such as participation in the Advisory Scientific Council of the Skolkovo Foundation, of which I am the co-chairman. This project seems to me a successful undertaking, because it will benefit many," the scientist says.
"On the other hand, all this creates a lot of additional responsibilities, forces me to break away from studying science, which has always been my main goal. In general, the Nobel Prize is a source of opportunities, in particular, opportunities to help others, but it is also a heavy burden, a burden," he continues.
In Siberia and in Akademgorodok, Dr. Kornberg for the first time. His arrival at the Novosibirsk Scientific Center is connected with his position as co-chairman of the Skolkovo CSC and the visiting session of the Council, which is taking place these days.
"As a member of the Advisory Scientific Council of the Skolkovo Foundation, I am very interested in how science is developing in all regions of Russia, and Novosibirsk is a particularly important scientific center. Therefore, we need to meet people and see with our own eyes what the conditions for science are here," he explains.
Talking about the impression the Novosibirsk Scientific Center made on him, the guest notes that he did not have enough time yet: "But what I saw made a huge impression on me. The quality of the work that is being carried out here is very high. The Novosibirsk Scientific Center has great prospects for the further development of science. I hope the Russian government will understand this, because the future of people and the country largely depends on the willingness of the government to do something."
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru18.05.2012