Tomorrow Today , 3



Tomorrow Today , 3.7.2011

Deutsche Welle DW

Best specialist programme

Contact name: Christian Jaburg

Producers: Klaus Dartmann, Derrick Williams

30’’ clip

TC in 10:00:56:03

TC out 10:01:26:03

Global health – one of the issues being tackled by Nobel Laureates and young researchers from 80 countries at a conference in Lindau in southern Germany. Tomorrow Today has a special report.

Lindau Conference - The annual get-together of Nobel laureates

Report by Michael Wetzel

Every year, Lindau in southern Germany hosts a meeting of Nobel Prize winners. This year's event focuses on medicine, and brings together 24 Nobel laureates with 570 young researchers from across the world. The main objective over the week is to engage in informal debate and discussion about the latest developments on the research front. You'd be hard pressed to find another event that brings together so many high-caliber academics and scientists in a single place. Our reporter mingled among the scientific celebrities to bring us highlights from the conference.

Interview: Prof. Wolfgang Schürer, Chairman of the Board of the Nobel Laureate Meetings at Lindau

The Battle Against Cancer – HPV researchers carrying on the work of a Nobel winner

Report by Mabel Gundlach

Cervical cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer among women. Particularly in countries where preventive treatment is limited, it can also be a frequent cause of death. But there is a new hope thanks to the research work of Harald zur Hausen, who won the 2008 Nobel Prize for Medicine for showing that cervical cancer is caused by viruses. This insight led to the development of a vaccine that aims to prevent infection from the tumor viruses.

Now Austrian immunologist Angelika Riemer has taken up the challenge of continuing zur Hausen’s work. She and her team in Heidelberg are developing a vaccine that is also effective after infection, by locating the tumor virus and rendering it harmless.

Our viewer question: How does the brain work?

Interview: Bert Sakmann, 1991 Nobel Laureate in Medicine

Bert Sakmann won the 1991 Nobel Prize for Medicine together with physicist Erwin Neher for his research into the way nerve cells transport electrical signals. Sakmann is now building up the first Max Planck Institute in the United States.

Women Scientists – the challenges of juggling a family and a career

Judith Klatt is a doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen. She’s also a mother, keen to fulfil both her roles with equal vigor. She’s being helped by a foundation set up by Nobel laureate Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard. It provides financial support so Judith can pay for a day nursery.

The foundation is pushing for the support to be expanded. There is a huge need for women in top scientific jobs. Only 17 percent of professors in Germany are women. The financial support is a small but hugely helpful step for Judith Klatt on her way to a career in scientific research.

Report by Kari Hauschke

The Internet Generation – science in the global online community

Sebastian Riese is a biochemist and currently working on his PhD at Berlin's Charité university clinic. Whenever he has questions about his work, he can go online to "Researchgate" a huge online forum for scientists. The network has over a million members worldwide - scientists can exchange tips, specialist literature is available for free and there's a huge jobs section.

Gone are the days when scientists sat in their ivory towers and pondered the world. Science in the 21st century is increasingly taking place in global chatrooms. And that's having an impact, says Jürgen Renn from the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. The Internet is changing scientists' communication behavior and leading to interdisciplinary research groups. Information is freely available to all and is being discussed openly. But Jürgen Renn wants to take things a step further and is calling for all scientific publications to be placed online.

Report by Marion Hütter

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