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KECEMERLANGAN SAINSSCIENCE EXCELLENCEsebuah syarikat pengeluar ubat perawatan kanser,kini memegang jawatan Ketua Pegawai Penyelidikandi syarikat tersebut. Dewasa ini beliau memegangjawatan Pengarah Eksekutif di Institute of Molecular andCell Biology, Singapura. Prof Lane merupakan salahseorang daripada pakar sains yang dijulang berikutanpenemuan terkemuka beliau mengenai gen kanser p53yang dirujuk sebagai ‘pelindung genom’.Semasa penyampaian syarahan berjudul, ‘DrugDiscovery and Target Validation in the p53 Pathway’Prof Lane menjelaskan bahawa gen penindas tumor p53memainkan peranan penting dalam pencegahan kansermanusia kerana ia bertindak sebagai regulator utama/master regulator manakala protein p53 pula berfungsisebagai satu faktor transkripsi cetusan stres. Beliau telahberbincang mengenai pendekatan biomedikal danpendekatan berasaskan sel dalam mengenal pastidrug yang menyelaraskan pathway p53 dan potensidrug ini dalam aplikasi terapeutik.ASM juga telah menganjurkan satu syarahan umumbertajuk ‘Mengubati Kanser’ pada 19 Januari di manaDr Lane telah menjelaskan faktor-faktor risiko yangkompleks, pelbagai dan berbilang yang berkaitanpenyakit ini. Beliau memberitahu bahawa kemajuanbesar yang dicapai dalam memahami sebab-sebabberlaku kanser manusia telah membawa kepadapenemuan langkah-langkah pencegahan dan terapiyang lebih baik.MOSTI dan ASM dengan kerjasama Fakulti Perubatan,Universiti Malaya dan National University of Singapore,telah menganjurkan Bengkel Teknikal Dr Ranjeet BhagwanSingh yang Ketujuh ini yang bertajuk, ‘RNAi and HumanDisease’ pada 11–14 Disember. Menerusi bengkel inipara peserta mempelajari prinsip-prinsip mengenai RNAInterference (RNAi); mempelajari peranan miRNAs dansiRNAs dalam penyakit di kalangan manusia; memperolehpengalaman pendekatan praktis dalam mengasingkanRNA kecil (RNAs) dan juga mengesan miRNAs spesifi k didalam darah dan tisu; serta memperoleh pengalamanpendekatan praktis mengenai perencatan spesifi kekspresi gen menggunakan RNAi. Bengkel ini telahdikendalikan oleh Prof Kandiah Jeyaseelan (Profesorbiokimia dan biologi molekular) dan Dr ArunmozhiarasiArumugam (Felo Penyelidikan Kanan, dari JabatanBiokimia), Yong Loo Lim, School of Medicine, NationalUniversity of Singapore.Singapore. Prof Lane is one of the scientists creditedwith the landmark discovery of the cancer gene p53,also known as ‘the guardian of the genome’.During the lecture entitled ‘Drug Discovery and TargetValidation in the p53 Pathway’ Prof Lane explainedthat the tumour suppressor gene p53 plays a majorrole in preventing human cancer as it acts as a masterregulator with the p53 protein functioning as a stressinduced transcription factor. He discussed biochemicaland cell-based approaches to the identifi cation ofdrugs that regulate the p53 pathway and their potentialtherapeutic application.ASM also organized a Public Lecture entitled ‘CuringCancer’ on 19 January where the complex, variedand multiple risk factors of the disease were explainedby Prof Lane. He mentioned that great progress inthe fundamental understanding of the causes ofhuman cancer was guiding the discovery of improvedpreventative measures and better therapies.MOSTI and ASM, in collaboration with the Faculty ofMedicine, University of Malaya and National University ofSingapore organized the Seventh Dr Ranjeet BhagwanSingh Technical Workshop entitled ‘RNAi and HumanDiseases’ on 11–14 December. The Workshop wasorganized to enable participants to learn the principlesunderlying RNA interference (RNAi); learn about thepart played by miRNAs and siRNAs in human diseases;acquire hands-on experience in isolating small RNAsand to detect specifi c miRNAs in blood and tissues; andgain hands-on experience on specifi c inhibition of geneexpression using RNAi. It was conducted by Prof KandiahJeyaseelan (Professor of biochemistry and molecularbiology) and Dr Arunmozhiarasi Armugam (SeniorResearch Fellow, from the Department of biochemistry),Yong Loo Lin Schools of Medicine, National Universityof Singapore.In Pursuit of Excellence in Science 65