By Lanquiao Gao
A group of students from St. Francis Prep, Fresh Meadows, successfully completed a series of interactive lectures and demonstrations at Rockefeller University. The students were impressed by the university’s 79 labs and the fact that 24 of its scientists have won Nobel prizes. We had the opportunity of being inspired by hearing Dr. Thomas Sakmar, who heads the Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Signal Transduction at the university.
During this talk, he introduced the history of drug discovery, which could be traced back to Homer, and Hippocrates in Greece and the Persian Empire. People in ancient times discovered many plants that were quite helpful in treating and curing diseases.
“What makes plants useful is this substance in plants called an alkaloid, which is ring-shaped and contains nitrogen,” Sakmar said.
Then he talked about the transition from ancient to modern medicine. The first Europeans to have suffered from malaria were cured in Peru and thus Quinine was serendipitously discovered. Sakmar spoke of William Henry Perkin, who tried to synthesize Quinine at the age of 18. Though he did not succeed at first, he discovered a purple dye that was used as a textile dye, and, was subsequently used to dye cells for viewing under microscope.
Realizing how much is possible even at this young age inspired students.
Christopher Polloni, one of the students from St. Francis Prep, said that “what inspired me the most was learning about how many scientific discoveries were made by young people like me, such as William Perkin.”
George Galanis added, “Perkin’s story of how he was able to turn what was initially a failure to synthesize a treatment for malaria into a successful consumer product shows that great success can be found even in the biggest of failures.”
After the lecture, students and teachers toured the main building. Students were amazed by the overall achievements, and the scope and quality of the research done at the university.
Sakmar then began his second lecture on the 21st-century Precision Medicine. Next Generation Sequence (NGS) and Integrated Personal Omics Profiling (IPOP) drew the audience’s attention from the past to the future. In this bright future of precision drug discovery, almost 30 percent of drug discovery is directly or indirectly related to plants. Students were excited and amazed when Sakmar talked about how Youyou Tu was credited half the 2015 Nobel Prize in medicine “for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria” which traced back to ancient Chinese documents.
Sakmar then discussed the discovery of DNA, modern drug development and orphan drugs, drugs targeted to specific patients with rare diseases, are needed to save more lives.
Then Sakmar introduced his lab crew, who shared their personal connections to science and encouraged students to pursue their own dreams.
“Their passion started at around my age and seeing them go so far in their careers gave me hope for my own future,” said Marianna Tzirani.
Sakmar’s 2016 “Talking Science” lectures encouraged many students to hold fast to their passion for science. “The discoveries that the scientists at Rockefeller University have made towards combating genetic disorders have further inspired me to become a biotechnician,” Kimberly Mayo said. “I would be excited to work on a research team that is focused on using precision medicine to cure patients.”
Sakmar said the world of science needs innovation and optimism, which are incumbent on this new generation.
What inspired me the most, after I went on the trip to Rockefeller University, is the spirit to explore the uncertainty of science with optimism.
This gives me hope for the future, and thus it is possible for me to make a difference.
Gao is a junior at St. Francis Prep.
