Boulder is fortunate to have top-class scientists

One of the great things about living in Boulder is the abundance of world-class scientists working in many fascinating spheres.

Among those world-class scientists is Dr. Tom Cech, winner of the 1989 Nobel Prize for the work done in his lab at CU Boulder demonstrating that RNA can not only carry information, it can also catalyze biochemical reactions.

From May 21 to 24, 2023,

Dr. Cech and his colleagues are hosting a stunning conference on “RNA Worlds” with the Biofrontiers Institute on the east campus of CU Boulder and are allowing the public to listen in.

With several other Nobel prize winners and a host of famous scientists from around the world who could have/ should have also won Nobel prizes, those who are attending are richly rewarded and reminded of how lucky we are to live in Boulder!

There will also be a public panel on Tuesday May 23, 2023, at 6 p.m. at Macky Auditorium key-noted by the (amazing) 2020 Nobel-prize winner Jennifer Doudna discussing the future and ethics of the CRISPR gene-editing technology she helped develop. Members of the public can register for the free event on the Biofrontiers “RNA World” website.

These excellent opportunities for everyone who cares about recent developments in biochemistry and bioscience are just the latest in a very long string of kind and generous actions, large and small, that have characterized the leadership that Dr. Cech has provided at CU Boulder — and in his collaborations around the world.

It isn’t easy to carry the “mantle” of having won a Nobel Prize, but Dr. Cech has done so with humility, kindness and generosity and when I count the blessings of living in Boulder, his example is definitely on that list!

Thank you Dr. Cech!

— Leslie Glustrom, Boulder