Supporting the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
12-06-2008
Location: University College London
Over 200 scientists from leading UK and European universities gathered in London at a two-day scientific symposium with a group of top scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. The Symposium, which was hosted by University College London, showcased the work of some of the Institute’s senior scientists alongside speakers and participants from Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial, Edinburgh and other leading UK institutions.
Despite the threat of a UK-wide boycott against Israeli scientists, there was an unprecedented demand for places at the Symposium. Scientists and graduate students from countries all over Europe and beyond attended the meeting. On both days, there was a 50–strong waiting list of prospective participants who had travelled to London in the hope of being able to join the Symposium. The various sessions were met with the enthusiasm of the participants, who deemed it inspirational and called for more meetings of this kind.
The two day meeting focused on the cutting-edge work of Biological Complexity within the field of Systems Biology. Sessions by Weizmann scientists included ‘Learning to read the Genome’ by Dr. Eran Segal. “We have the book”, Dr. Segal said in his session, “the problem is – we don’t know how to read it”. Another session, led by Prof Ehud Shapiro - noted in the Guinness Book of Records for the world's smallest molecular computer – discussed the breakthrough efforts to edit DNA. The closing keynote address was given by the director of Microsoft's European Research Programme, Dr Stephen Emmott, and looked towards science in 2020.
Click here to view picture gallery.