How cool is it to be in the presence of a Nobel Laureate? Our next big speaker at TiE Boston is just that. Sir Richard Roberts, an entrepreneur, molecular biologist and architect of gene-splicing is the Research Director at New England Biolabs. He was awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of introns in eukaryotic DNA and the mechanism of gene-splicing.

He will be speaking about “Genomes, Computers, and Experimentation in Biology” next week on October 18 at the Newton Marriott.

Roberts has discovered and cloned restriction enzymes and been involved in studies of Adenovirus-2, beginning with studies of transcription that led to the discovery of split genes and mRNA splicing. His laboratory has pioneered the application and development of computer methods for protein and nucleic acid sequence analysis that continues to be a major research focus for him.

It is not often that one gets the chance to hear, meet, and speak to someone who is not only known all over the world but has also been knighted by the Queen of England for his accomplishments. Let’s not forget though that Sir Richard Roberts is first and foremost a person just like us.

Richard Roberts did not grow up thinking “I am going to be a Nobel Prize winning scientist.” Instead, he dreamed of being a detective. That probably came from his love of puzzles and logical thinking, which his school headmaster encouraged and fostered. Like most great people, he also had that one major event that would change the course of his life; he received his first chemistry set as a gift. Playing with his set and discovering fireworks and experiments eventually led him to the realization that he wanted to be a chemist.

Just because he had a passion for chemistry, didn’t mean that he actually enjoyed studying the sciences. In fact, he did not really like chemistry or biochemistry that much. He even did poorly in the A-level Physics exam during his first attempt.

In fact Roberts childhood dream was to be a detective, but his passion and hard work led him to get the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine. His life is an inspiration that anyone who has a passion and can dream big should be able to accomplish what they believe in.

Come out to the Newton Marriott on October 18, 2011 to hear Sir Richard Roberts talk more about “COMBREX” which is a new, international project to find the function of new genes.  It involves bioinformatics and biochemical experimentation. The implementation offers excellent opportunities for students to become involved in some real scientific research and thereby encourage young students to become scientists.

Hear Nobel Laureate, Richard J. Roberts describe the COMBREX project and place it into the larger context of the current needs of biology, both for the basic purposes of understanding life and also as a stepping stone to clinical applications in combating infectious diseases. Find out what this means for the future of bioinformatics and biochemical experiments. For registration and more information, click here.

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