The three Laureates in Chemistry and Physics and the Laureate in Economic Sciences answered some of the questions from the international press during a press conference at the Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
The camera flashes fired away as some of this year’s Nobel Prize winners entered the stage. Nobel Laureates in Physics Arthur B. McDonald and Takaaki Kajita, Nobel Laureates in Chemistry, Aziz Sancar, Paul Modrich and Tomas Lindahl, and Angus Deaton, the Laureate in Economic Sciences gave the press a 30 minute opportunity to ask some questions about their findings and thoughts on further research.
Advice to young aspiring scientists
The Laureates in Chemistry, being awarded for their mechanistic studies of DNA repair, were among other things asked what they expect that their findings can lead to when it comes to cancer treatment. As Professor Thomas Lindahl emphasized the importance of acquiring new knowledge and that “the key to curing cancer comes through basic research”. The Laureates also gave some advice to young aspiring scientists, to whom Aziz Sancar pointed out that one should be prepared for some hard yet rewarding work. Professor Lindahl also noted that observation but furthermore described how science is much about creativity, something that Arthur B. McDonald greatly endorsed.
After the press conference the Laureates gave interviews with the various newspapers, TV-crews and magazines. Nordic Life Science had a chat with Mr. Paul Modrich, who talked about what drove him to devote himself to finding the secret behind the MMR system, what he likes best about science and what the Nobel Prize means to him. You can read our full-length interview with Paul Modrich in our upcoming issue of Nordic Life Science.
