Daily Trip Report: 2007 Lindau Meeting

Lectures and Meetings: July 5

Laureate Richard Roberts delivers his lecture

Laureate Richard Roberts talks about a variety of microbes in his morning lecture.

Female American students listen to Laureate Richard Roberts

American students listen intently to Laureate Richard Roberts.

The morning session began with a presentation by Laureate Richard Roberts, who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1993, for his discovery that genes do not always exist as one continuous string of DNA, but in fact may consist of several separate segments that are converted by RNA splicing into the needed code for translation into a protein.

His lecture was titled “Why I love microbes.” His focus was on the complexity of the microbial life that not only surrounds us but also lives inside us. He pointed out that while the human genome has roughly 25,000 to 30,000 genes, the more than 400 known bacteria that live in us have more than a million genes. In the course of his talk, he brought out some specific examples of the benefits of microbes for our health.

Aaron Ciechanover who shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2004 with Avram Hershko and Irwin Rose for research on the role of ubiquitins in the degradation of proteins spoke on “The dynamics of our proteins: From basic mechanisms onto the patient bed.” The focus of his talk was in fact on the degradation of proteins through the ubiquitin pathway, and he showed the students how that initial discovery is leading to many ideas for new approaches to treatment of diseases, as well as insights into cellular processes.

Rolf Zinkernagel, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1996 for discoveries about the immune system, was the final lecturer. His talk—“Why do we not have a vaccine against TB or HIV (yet)?”—followed the approach of the two earlier talks this morning by explaining what we know about a fundamental biological process, in this case immune response, and then discussing how the knowledge we have of this process is providing new insights for the clinic.

To close out the morning session, five of the Laureates participated on a roundtable panel on the subject “Medical Sciences and Society.” Participants were Edmond Fischer, Avram Hershko, Ferid Murad, Erwin Neher, and Richard Roberts.

The students then convened at the Restaurant Max for their final group lunch and one more chance to interact with the noted scientists attending the meeting. Laureates in attendance were Ferid Murad and Avram Hershko.

During the luncheon certificates of appreciation were presented to Professor Helmut Sies of the University of Düsseldorf in Germany and Professor Hans Jörnvall of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm (and Secretary of the Committee that selects the recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine). They served as the scientific chairs of the Lindau Meeting this year and are members of the organizing Council of the meetings.

Others attending the luncheon included: Professor Wolfgang Lubitz, member of the organizing council; Dr Leonore Uhlenbusch, wife of Jürgen Uhlenbusch, who is vice-president of the Council; Anders Zetterberg of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and Andreas Gundelwein, executive secretary of the Council.

In the afternoon, the students continued their scientific discussions with the Laureates in small group sessions at the Inselhalle and then either had dinner provided by the meeting or went out on their own for the last time to take advantage of Lindau’s many fine restaurants.

Male American students listen to Laureate Richard Roberts