On the afternoon of June 13, the University Auditorium was filled with an audience numbering over 500 from both within and outside the university, gathered to welcome the distinguished speaker for the 18th ShanghaiTech Lecture—Sir Paul Nurse, the 2001 Nobel Prize Winner in Physiology or Medicine. Jiang Ge, Vice President of the university, hosted the event.
Sir Paul Nurse is a renowned British geneticist and cell biologist. His research focuses on the control mechanisms of the eukaryotic cell cycle and he has made outstanding contributions to the field of “key regulators in the cell cycle,” significantly impacting the pathways for cancer treatment.
Sir Nurse began his lecture describing a butterfly that had inspired his original thinking, and he then went on to expand on the five major concepts in biology—“cells, genes, evolution by natural selection, life as chemistry, and life as information,” leading, finally, to an ultimate question: “What is life?” Each of his talking points unlocked new doors of thought for the audience. During the Q&A session, many listeners eagerly raised their hands to ask questions. Questions included, “Does life evolve with a purpose?”, “How should we understand the selection in natural evolution—random or deterministic?”, “What role will AI play in exploring the mysteries of life, and what are its future prospects?”
Feng Donglai, President of ShanghaiTech University, expressed gratitude to Sir Paul Nurse on behalf of the university and presented him with the ShanghaiTech Lecture certificate. “The ShanghaiTech Lecture” series, which invites top experts and renowned figures from different sectors, is the highest-level lecture series of the university. It aims to provide students, faculty, and visitors from outside campus with more opportunities to engage with cutting-edge science and technology, making the campus a birthplace of novel thoughts and ideas.