All research needsis excitement, says Nobel laureateProf Ada Yonath

Staff Reporter

“I cannot tell the manner in which any research should or should not be conducted. All I know is that one needs tremendous amount of excitement to do research.” Nobel laureate Prof Ada Yonath, the only Nobel winning scientist to grace the Indian Science Congress, thus divulged the secret of her amazing success to an eager gathering of university professors, teachers, students at G T Parande Hall of Mass Communication Department of RTMNU, on Friday. Replying to a question posed by a College professor regarding the basic quality needed for research, she said, “Research is all about excitement and interest. Research is to be done without any expectation. The only one expectation being to get to the end result.” Regarding the prize of all prizes, Yonath said, “I did not believe when my name was declared for Nobel prize. Neither had I ever thought about it nor was it my aim.”

Prof Yonath expressed regret that Indian physicist late G N Ramachandran did not get the Nobel Prize. “He was a great scientist. His work led to creation of the ‘Ramachandran plot’ for understanding peptide structure. He should have got Nobel Prize before me,” she added. Accompanied by her daughter Hagith Yonath, a renowned Physician at Israel, 83-year-old Prof Ada Yonath got down the car and walked towards the hall with the help of walker. Despite her age, her enthusiasm was very visible as she accepted and reciprocated to the greetings.

This was not Prof Yonath’s first visit to India. Showing her admiration for Indian scientists, she said “I feel very happy to join you here. There are lot of good themes on which discussions are being held in this Congress.”

When asked about the social and political impact of scientific breakthroughs, Prof Ada admitted to her very little insight into politics. “Science remains the same whether it is pursued by man or woman. It is equal for all,” she declared.