Nobel laureate Turkish scientist Prof. Dr. Aziz Sancar came to Turkey for TEKNOFEST, the world's largest aviation, space and technology festival. Prof. Sancar met with the bright minds of the future at TÜBİTAK Science High School in Gebze.
Sancar, who was the guest of honor of TÜBİTAK, made striking statements on many topics ranging from the Nobel Prize he won for the science and technology stars of the future to his new studies on cancer treatment.
Sancar stated that he did not know who nominated him for the Nobel Prize until today and said, "The biggest goal is not Nobel, it is the book. After 100 years, Turkish children like you will read my discoveries and say, 'A Turk did this'. That was my goal."
Noting that he has been working on the biological clock and DNA repair enzymes, Sancar said, "Now, how does the biological clock control DNA repair? We are now working on how we can use this in both cancer prevention and cancer treatment."
Upon a question about his source of motivation, Sancar recalled the words of Mehmet the Conqueror, "Istanbul, either I will take you or you will take me." Sancar said, "I am very nationalistic. This is a great motivation for me."
Explaining that he consulted his wife, an American, about the gift of the Nobel Prize to Anıtkabir, Sancar said, "It was thanks to Atatürk that a child whose parents were illiterate in Savur district of Mardin was educated and received the Nobel Prize."
TUBITAK's Guest of Honor
Prof. Aziz Sancar, who came to Istanbul as the guest of honor of TÜBİTAK for TEKNOFEST'21, visited TÜBİTAK Science High School. During the visit, Sancar was accompanied by Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır and TÜBİTAK President Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal.
Greeted with Applause
Sancar, who was welcomed with applause at TÜBİTAK Gebze Campus, visited the classrooms and received information about the school's curriculum. Sancar gave a lecture to the students at TÜBİTAK UME and evaluated the contribution of the Turkish world to world science from a historical perspective.
Golden Age of Central Asia
While comparing the Turkic world to China, which he emphasized has a similar history in terms of scientific contribution, Sancar referred to Princeton University's S. Frederick Starr's book "The Lost Enlightenment: The Golden Age of Central Asia" by S. Frederick Starr of Princeton University. Noting that the Turkish world experienced an age of enlightenment during the Middle Ages in Europe, Sancar said that scientists from the Muslim Turkish world such as Ibn-i Sina, Biruni, Al-Jazari, Ulug Bey and Harezmi made important contributions to world science during this period. Sancar emphasized that the age of enlightenment in the Turkic world was carried to the Ottoman Empire with scientists such as Ali Kuşçu.
The Importance of Experimentation
Sancar stated that Turkey was very good in theoretical education and said, "I had a lot of difficulty when I was doing my PhD because I couldn't do experiments. Turkey prepared us very well in the theoretical field, but we lacked experimental experience. Science is done through experimentation. We should teach our children to experiment at an early age."
My Piri Reis Map
Explaining that they are building a Turkish Cultural Center in America, Sancar said, "In the backyard, there is a bust of Atatürk in the corner and Piri Reis in another corner. The reason I put Piri Reis is that he made the world map and I made the DNA repair map. I called it 'my Piri Reis map.
Slice opens after the second week
Making a presentation to the students in English, Sancar said at the beginning of his speech: "The presentation is not technical but can be explained in Turkish. When I come to Turkey, my Turkish will be stiff for the first two weeks. After the second week, my language opens up. Therefore, with your permission, I will make the presentation in English."
"Nobel cannot be won with propaganda"
After the presentation, Sancar answered the questions of the students. Upon the question "How did you apply for Nobel?" Sancar said the following: "There is no such thing as applying. You cannot nominate yourself for Nobel. When the chairman of the Nobel chemistry committee gave a dinner in our honor, he told me, 'I cannot go to international meetings, everyone is gathering around me and trying to influence me.' Nobel cannot be won by making your own propaganda. I don't know who nominated me until today. The biggest goal is not Nobel, it is the book. 100 years from now, Turkish children like you will read my discoveries and say, 'A Turk did this. That was my goal. I wasn't thinking about Nobel."
Why did he study DNA?
Sancar answered the question "Why did you study DNA repair?" as follows: "When the DNA structure was discovered, there was a way of thinking that 'This is the basic structure of genetics and it is indestructible'. Later, they realized that when it is damaged by X-rays, sun rays and other chemicals in the environment, it causes mutations and cancer. The professor I did my PhD with discovered for the first time that there is a mechanism that repairs DNA. But he couldn't figure out how this enzyme works. Because you need to purify the enzyme to solve it. The enzyme was made in very small amounts. I multiplied and purified the enzyme and figured out how to repair it. I continued with other repair mechanisms."
Where Science Takes Us
"In science, you never know where a test will lead. While I was working on this, I realized that humans have a protein that looks like a DNA repair enzyme, but it does not repair DNA. While researching what it does, I realized that it controls the biological clock. So I started working on the biological clock and combined the two. Now how does the biological clock control DNA repair? We are now working on how we can use this in both cancer prevention and cancer treatment. "
Did it pay off?
To the question "Have you been rewarded for your efforts, have you achieved your goal?" Prof. Dr. Sancar gave the following answer: "We worked day and night for 5 years. We wanted to find out how DNA is repaired in humans. If you are working on an important subject, know that there are 5 other people working on that subject. If someone from Japan had found this a month before us, our 5 years would have been wasted. It is not easy to do science. I was doing this for curiosity, how humans are repaired. Because the proteins in bacteria are not present in humans. But I knew it was also repaired in humans and I wanted to figure it out. We had countless sleepless nights. "
What is the Motivation Source?
On a question about what it takes to be the best, to succeed, Sancar said: "Sometimes we are defeated, sometimes we win. There is no such thing as I will achieve everything. Fatih has a famous saying. 'Istanbul, either I will take you or you will take me.' You will be stubborn, you will be willing and you will put all your energy into it. This requires sacrifice, it can create difficult situations in the family. You can work until midnight and she is waiting at home. You need to strike a balance. If you are willing, you say I will do it and you do it. Many scientists who have done great things are not very happy. I don't want to say this every now and then, but I am very nationalistic. This is a great motivation for me. No matter how stressed I get, I have his consolation. "
Why Biology?
Sancar answered the question "Why biology?" as follows: "I went to medical school and became a doctor. There I learned that doctors work like technicians. I was working at the health center in the village of Surgücü in Mardin Savur and there was a lot of tuberculosis there. The Ministry of Health was sending kilos of medicine. I was curious. They give penicillin for pneumonia. That's how my life was saved. I got pneumonia from my brother. My brother died. I also got pneumonia, I was lucky. Penicillin was just arriving in Turkey. They gave me a penicillin injection and I recovered. But penicillin does not cure tuberculosis. I asked around, I searched books, there is no answer. Neither microbiologists nor doctors know. Not only doctors in Turkey, it was unknown in the world. Doctors apply what they are given and do not make a new discovery, so I decided to do a PhD in molecular biology as a curious person."
I'll Sing But No One Will Applaud
Upon the question "How did you decide to gift the Nobel Prize to Anıtkabir?" Sancar said, "I will say it, but no one will applaud, okay?" Sancar then continued as follows: "An interesting thing is that I received the Nobel Prize and there was excitement and turmoil. I told my wife, my wife is American, 'I will put this in Anıtkabir.' She said, 'Of course, what else are you going to do? That American woman. Because I had told her about Atatürk. She appreciated Atatürk more than many Turks. I was amazed. She didn't say, 'No, let's keep it. I got there thanks to Ataturk, because it was thanks to Ataturk that a child whose parents were illiterate in Savur district of Mardin was educated and received a Nobel Prize. "
DNA Error in 5 TL Banknote
"You said there was an error on the DNA picture on the 5 Turkish Lira. I looked, but there is no source writing the reason for the mistake. I wondered why the mistake." Sancar replied, "The spiral there turns from left to right, the actual DNA turns from right to left."
Kilogram Prototype
After the question and answer session, TUBITAK President Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal thanked Sancar and presented him with a prototype kilogram, one of the two symbols of the metric system adopted in 1875 and abolished in 2018.
Vaccine and Medicine Presentation
After the conference, Sancar visited the "Medical Biotechnology Research Center". Prof. Dr. Şaban Tekin, Director of the TÜBİTAK MAM Institute of Gene Engineering and Biotechnology, made a presentation to Sancar about the vaccine and drug development studies carried out at the center. Afterwards, the Molecular Biology Laboratory, Cell Culture Laboratory and Cell Development Laboratory were visited.
Turkey Ahead
Sancar then met with scientists from the COVID-19 Turkey Platform at a meeting titled "Developing and Achieving Together". Speaking at the meeting, Sancar said that he found Turkey ahead of many countries in terms of vaccines. Sancar emphasized that studies are also being carried out for future pandemics within the platform and said, "There is a strong infrastructure here in terms of knowledge and initiative."
Antarctica Souvenir
Following the meeting, Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır presented Sancar with a painting commemorating the 2020 National Antarctic Science Expedition, and TÜBİTAK President Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal presented Sancar with a caftan with a map of Piri Reis.
Leading Scientists of the Future
TÜBİTAK Science High School was established in TÜBİTAK Gebze Campus, which includes the leading research centers and institutes of the R&D and technology world with its trained and qualified manpower and advanced laboratories. The high school aims to educate the leading scientists of the future who are analytical thinkers and have a strong social and environmental awareness.
The high school, which has an area of approximately 44 thousand square meters, has 24 classrooms equipped with modern technology, a dormitory with a capacity of 600 students and 10 advanced basic science workshops.
The high school, which has 90 students for this academic year, will have a total of five years of education, including one year of English preparatory education. In the first semester of the academic year, students will receive elective German and Spanish language education. Starting from the preparatory class, students will receive a monthly scholarship of 500 TL for the duration of their education.
28 Different Courses
The high school curriculum includes 28 elective courses such as Biotechnology, Materials Science, Data Analysis, Science, Technology and Social Change, Sustainable Food and Water Policies, Innovation-Oriented Project Design, Artificial Intelligence Applications, Human-Machine Interaction, and Internet of Things Applications.
Students will be able to stay at the Gebze campus and use TÜBİTAK laboratories. They will be able to do internships in the centers and institutes of the institution. Throughout their careers, students will be offered mentoring support, science talks, club activities, sports competitions, technical trips and many other opportunities.
Who Applied?
Students studying in the 8th grade of public, private and imam hatip secondary schools in the 2020-2021 academic year and who were in the 1st percentile according to the 2021 central exam results applied to the high school.
Applications for the TUBITAK Science High School Central Talent Entrance Exam were made via the e-School Management Information System on July 2-4. The entrance exam was held in 25 provinces on July 9. According to the results of the exam, 90 students, 19 girls and 71 boys from 37 different provinces, were placed in high school.
Who is Aziz Sancar?
Prof. Dr. Aziz Sancar was born in Savur district of Mardin. He was one of the 8 children of his family who had no education. Thanks to his family who cared about their children's education, he studied in Mardin until university. After completing his undergraduate studies at Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine, he went to the USA for graduate studies. He received his PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Texas. He specialized in areas such as DNA repair and cell cycle. In 2015, he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for DNA repair together with Tomas Lindahl and Paul Modrich.
