5^th Royal Palm Lecture features Nobel Laureate Dr. Aaron Ciechanover

Since its establishment in 2023, NTU Royal Palm Lecture Series has invited outstanding scholars and entrepreneurs to speak on the NTU campus to bestow a global vision upon faculty and students. On April 1, the 5th installment of the Royal Lecture Series has the distinguished honor of inviting globally renowned bio-chemist, also the 2004 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Dr. Aaron Ciechanover to speak on the topic “The Revolution of Personalized Medicine – Are We Going to Cure all Diseases and at What Price?” at Shih-Liang Chien Lecture Hall. Dr. Ciechanover touched on how the development of biochemical technologies has led to the third revolution of medicine and the potential conflict of personal privacy with the introduction of personalized medicine. The audience actively engaged with Dr. Aaron Ciechanover by raising a wide range of questions, from breakthroughs in fundamental sciences, doctor-patient relationships, to the distribution of resources in society. Dr. Aaron Ciechanover provided insightful responses, infused with wisdom and humor. Drawing from his own experiences, he encouraged faculty and students to persevere despite the uncertainties, challenges, and setbacks they may encounter on their academic journey, emphasizing that only through relentless effort and persistence can one succeed in research.

The moderator of this speech, NTU President Wen-Chang, highlighted Prof. Ciechanover’s eminent role as a Distinguished Professor at Technion—Israel Institute of Technology. President Chen emphasized his discovery of the crucial role of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation in numerous cellular processes, the abnormalities of which form the basis of many disease mechanisms, including malignant tumors and neurodegenerative diseases. Before the lecture, Academician Andrew H.-J. Wang delivered an introduction, remarking that ubiquitin, although not a large protein, is widely present in eukaryotic cells. He underscored the significance of Professor Ciechanover 's discovery that multiple ubiquitins are conjugated to target proteins, a revelation that earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2004. As a result of this discovery, the academia-industry collaboration has developed numerous effective drugs, primarily for malignant tumors, with many more in the pipeline.

Prof. Ciechanover pointed out that from the 30s to 60s, drug development was in a "serendipity" phase, with the discovery of penicillin being the most classic example. In the following decades, advancements in technology enabled scientists to identify effective small molecules from millions of compounds, a process known as "chemical screening," which brought about the second revolutionary change in drug research, with the development of cholesterol-lowering drugs like statins as representative example. Entering the 21st century, breakthroughs in gene sequencing and editing, stem cells, imaging techniques, and others have brought about the third revolution in medical treatment. Concepts like "personalized," "predictive," "preventive," and "participatory" medicine have become hallmark ideas. Even patients can be redefined as embryos formed from eggs and sperm, with diseases being attributed to faulty gene sequences and treatment involving gene sequence corrections. These changes are not in a distant future; they are happening right now. Prof. Ciechanover believed that as life expectancy increases, new diseases are likely to emerge. In conclusion, he offers a profound insight: the greatest assurance for society, or the safeguard of morality, lies not in knowing and solving all potential problems but in retaining a degree of uncertainty about the future.

NTU Royal Palm Lecture Series invites a diversity of distinguished speakers, including academic scholars, technical experts, NTU distinguished professors, highly-accomplished alumni, recipients of honorary doctorates, and influential entrepreneurs. These eminent speakers address pressing global issues and emerging technological frontiers, providing our students and faculty with precious, timely knowledge and insights. The plan is to host six lecturers each year, with the expectation that the rich experiences and wisdom of the distinguished guests will provide inspiration as well as insights to every attendee.