Michael JensenNot the LHC, but God's gift nonetheless
September 10th 2008 12:24
Damn the LHC - hurrah for Ian Frazer! (photo: CNN.com)
You might expect that I would be writing about the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, given that the experiment began today. It seems that the world has reacted to this in only a few ways: ambivalence ("isn't that near Paris?" asked a colleague today), to excitement, to fear (the nay-sayers concerned that the small black holes the LHC creates will expand and eat the world - but we've all heard these).
My favourite responses to all of this though? Physicists are suddenly all over the news, The Large Hadron Rap and the senior CERN guy who labelled anyone concerned about the world coming to an end "a twat".
Say it like it is brother.
But while I think the work at CERN is supercool and my inner physics nerd is doing a little happy dance, I am more excited by the fact that Professor Ian Frazer has won the Balzan Prize for Preventive Medicine.
His name ring a bell at all? That's right, he's the guy who helped develop the cervical cancer vaccine, now marketed as Gardasil that's projected to save thousands of lives.
I must confess to a soft spot for the lovely Prof Frazer that's the size of a growing LHC black hole. I was his handler at an event last year so was lucky enough to spend a fair amount of time with him, and he truly is one of the most generous and genuine people I've ever met. I have no doubt he knows how scientifically good he is, and just what he and Jian Zhou have achieved (hell, the Weekend Australian called him "God's gift to women" a couple of years ago and it's not much of an exaggeration - although he is embarrassed by the title).
And he has an accent I could spend a lot of time listening to. But enough of this tangent, the really sexy stuff falls in the science and it's great that he's being recognised.
The Balzan Prize is worth around $800,000 - more than a Nobel Prize - but half of it must be donated to a project undertaken by a young researcher. That's unusual, but it's really exciting - no word yet on who has been chosen to receive the money.
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Comment by katyzzz
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Comment by Janine
I'm guessing you're opposed to vaccination based on the way you've phrased your first sentence, which isn't a view I share. Yes, there can be side-effects in some cases and clearly no-one wants to be that case in a thousand that has a serious adverse reaction. However, I firmly believe that the benefits for individuals and the population as a whole outweigh the risks - and nothing in life is ever risk-free.