Nobel Laureate Ahmed Zewail and Roger Kornberg, to speak at Wayne State University’s Inaugural Ahmed H. Zewail Gold Medal Award and lecture Monday, April 28.
April 25, 2008
What: Ahmed Zewail the 1999 Chemistry Nobel Laureate for pioneering developments in the field of femtoscience will speak about pioneering developments in the field of femtoscience, making it possible to observe the movement of the individual atoms in a femtosecond, a split second that is a millionth of a billionth of a second. Such a development—which literally changed the view of the dynamics of matter—holds great promise in the areas of technology and life sciences.
Roger Kornberg, 2006 Chemistry Nobel Laureate, who will receive the 2008 Ahmed H. Zewail Gold Medal to be presented by WSU’s Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Nancy Barrett, will also discuss how many illnesses such as heart disease, cancer and different kinds of inflammation are also linked to disturbances in the transcription process. This process must work properly or it causes death of an organism within days.
When: Monday, April 28
Presentation: 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Where: Wayne State Community Arts Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. Community Arts Auditorium 450 Reuther Mall on Wayne State’s main campus in Detroit. http://www.campusmap.wayne.edu/location/COMM
More Info: Dr. Roger Kornberg, 2006 Chemistry Nobel Laureate and professor of Structural Biology at Stanford University Medical School was the first scientist to create a picture of how transcription, a process necessary for all life to exist, works at a molecular level in the important group of organisms called eukaryotes. In order for the body to make use of information stored in genes, a copy must be made and transferred to the outer parts of the cells. There it is used to instruct protein production and construct the organism and its function. If this transcription process stops, genetic information is no longer transferred into the different parts of the body, and the organism dies within days. Many illnesses such as heart disease, cancer and different kinds of inflammation are also linked to disturbances in the transcription process.
Dr. Kornberg will discuss how his contributions allows us to now see detailed pictures of the new RNA-strand gradually developing, as well as the role of several other molecules necessary for transcription. His work allows us to distinguish separate atoms and understand the mechanisms of transcription and how it is regulated.
Dr. Ahmed H. Zewail is the 1999 Chemistry Nobel Laureate, and the Linus Pauling Chair Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Physics and the Director of the Physical Biology Center for Ultrafast Science and Technology (UST) and the NSF Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (LMS) at California Institute of Technology.
Professor Zewail was awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his pioneering developments in the field of femtoscience, making it possible to observe the movement of the individual atoms in a femtosecond, a split second that is a millionth of a billionth of a second. Such a development—which literally changed the view of the dynamics of matter—holds great promise in the areas of technology and life sciences. Currently his research interests include the biological sciences, the complexity of molecular function and the new development of ultrafast diffraction for the imaging of transient structures in space and time with atomic-scale resolution.
The program is sponsored by WSU’s Office of the President and Office of the Vice President for Research. The program’s purpose is to bring distinguished scientists to Wayne State University to convey the excitement of science to undergraduate and graduate students, and to the public at large.
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