Prof Aaron Ciechanover, a Nobel laureate in chemistry, gave a lecture at the Second Macao Symposium on Biomedical Sciences, which was organised by the University of Macau’s (UM) Faculty of Health Sciences. Prof Ciechanover discussed his breakthroughs in biomedical research and explained complicated subjects in plain language. The talk attracted several hundred UM faculties and students, researchers in related fields as well as members of the general public.

 

Prof Aaron Ciechanover’s lecture revolved around the question, ‘Are we going to cure all diseases and if yes at what price?’. He talked about the development and application of medicine. Many drugs in the early days including antibiotics, said Prof Ciechanover, were discovered by accident, and with rapid advances in science and technology, scientists are now able to develop drugs in a more effective and systematic manner. 

 

Prof Ciechanover also discussed one of the greatest challenges in developing cancer drugs, which is that even patients with the same symptoms often respond to a drug differently. And that’s where personalised cancer treatment comes in. Personalised treatment, which is tailored to each individual patient’s unique medical condition and needs, brings new hope to cancer patients, because not only can it greatly reduce the cost of treatment, but it can also improve the chance of survival. The good news is, technological advances have significantly reduced the cost and time of DNA sequencing, making personalised cancer treatment possible. 

 

The Israeli biologist received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2004 for characterising the method that cells use to degrade and recycle proteins using ubiquitin. He conducted postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Harvey Lodish at the Whitehead Institute at MIT from 1981 to 1984. He is currently a Technion Distinguished Research Professor in the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion (Israel Institute of Technology).

 

Source: Communications Office

 

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