On October 28, Professor Tian Dacheng, of the School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, gave the first offline lecture this semester, talking about his thoughts on the Nobel Prize. The lecture was unanimously welcomed by the students.

After Professor Ge Xin introduced Professor Tian to the audience, Tian started his interpretation of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020 was awarded “for the development of a method for genome editing,” and Tian summarized his views on this year’s Nobel Prize in three characters:

“Point,” that is, the Nobel Prize itself;

“Line,” that is, the Nobel Prize from a historical perspective; and

“Surface,” that is, the Nobel Prize from a broader perspective.

By “point,” the technology that won the Nobel Prize is of great significance to the editing of genetic information and is also of great help to the improvement of human species and to the promotion of their directed evolution.

By “line,” it is just one technology in the field of biogenetics, and many such major breakthroughs in this field have been awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry.

By “surface,” in modern times, the development of science and technology has become faster and faster, and people’s understanding of things is deepening, and the means of research are becoming more and more sophisticated. In biology, we have gone through the stage of imitating nature, which is primitive and lacking in modern technology, and the stage of classic, traditional technology and theory which cannot be used in all fields, and then to the stage of molecular technology that can be constantly employed in all fields for creating artificial products, which, once verified by hypothesis testing, may lead to their new utilization. Finally, Professor Tian mentioned the possibility of a new model of creation for China and the opportunities the current development of big technologies has brought forth for all scientists. He advised the students to have insight into the general situation and reflection.

At the question-and-answer session that followed the lecture, the students asked many questions, and Tian answered them one by one. 

After the lecture, the students benefited from Professor Tian’s calling for them to gain insight into the general situation and reflect on their learning, that is, seize the great opportunity of the rapid technological development in this era, find their real interests and follow their hearts, so as to make great achievements.