What does a scientist think of the gender bias that still permeates medical research? And how does a Nobel laureate consider the relationship between science and God? The updated version of the project is dedicated to these and other questions “Dialogs Beyond Borders“, from today online and accessible to all, in the new web section “House of Sciences” del sito Menarini Foundation. A series of meetings with some of the most brilliant minds in world science, to allow a journey into the life of the great geniuses of medical research.
8 video interviews
The “dialogues across borders” are enriched with 8 new video interviews, including a Nobel Prize for chemistry, for a total of 15 meetings, including 5 Nobel prizes. These are informal conversations with the most important protagonists of science of the last century, to explore their approach to life not only on research topics, but also those of ethics, religion, up to the present day. From the relationship with God to gender differences and discrimination in science, up to war and the importance of scientific communication in emergency situations, as taught by the Covid pandemic.
The female scientists
“When I decided to continue my studies after graduating in biology, my mother told me that a woman needed a profession, so I set out to study to obtain a teaching license at the same time. I think today the glass roof has been broken and that the future will be increasingly populated by female scientists” tells Hermon Soreq, pioneer in the application of molecular biology and genomics.
Science and religion
In the video interview with Aaron Ciechanover, Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2004 for the discovery of protein degradation mediated by ubiquitin, the delicate issue of the relationship between science and religion is also addressed. “When I was ten, I thought the Bible was just a heavy book for storing dried flowers,” he says. “God is in my heart – . If you fit religion to a culture, science and the existence of God are not contradictory.”
In the “you for you” with Eric Chivian, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985, the focus is on nuclear risk and the fight against climate change. “There is a high level of belligerence around the world at a time when we need more international cooperation to tackle issues like climate change.”
Communication in the pandemic
Among the big names hosted in the Dialogs Beyond Borders gallery there is also an Italian scientist, Alessandro Vespignani, director of the Network Science Institute at Northeastern University in Boston, who makes a brilliant analysis of the numerous communication errors made during the pandemic by both institutions and the media and scientists. “The crisis has been used by politics and this should never have happened in the management of the pandemic,” he comments. “Scientists and the media have not been able to communicate well with the public and explain to them how science works”.