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| | Sir John Sulston Delivers 2011 Aggrey-Fraser-Guggisberg Memorial Lectures |    | | | 
2002 Nobel Prize laureate, Sir John Edward Sulston, British physiologist has delivered the 2011 Aggrey-Fraser-Guggisberg Memorial Lectures at the University of Ghana’s Great Hall under the theme, “People and the Planet – Our Biological Heritage and Our Human Future”. The first lecture was on the topic: The human genome and global medicine, while the second lecture was on, Living and flourishing sustainably.
Quoting from the Bermuda Statement of February 1996, which states that “All human genomic sequence information should be freely available and in the public domain in order to encourage research and development and to maximize its benefit to society.”, Sir John was quick to add that the importance of the information staying in the public domain to ensure fair and equal access to health care development for all.
He said that the breakthrough achieved in the sequencing of the human genome had led to many medical advances in fields such as diagnostics, drug discovery and gene therapy and mentioned that about 1,556 new drugs have been developed from 1975-2004.
On genetic variation, Sir John noted that with a reference sequence now available, the next phase is to characterize all common variations, the important ones being medical importance, identification and forensics as well as an understanding of development.
Sir John argued that in moving towards global health, there was the need for public-private partnerships and not-for-profits charitable and government funding, mentioning also the importance of global treaties. He advocated alternative licensing models, such as patent pools, creative commons and science commons and said that the role of civil society such as non-governmental organisations and universities was also significant in arriving at global health.
He mentioned access to knowledge, equitable trade rules, multinational agreements, reversal of brain drain and balancing openness with opportunity as some of the sources of trust, and advocated a globalisation of justice which he said would avert the tragedy of nations and lead to a sustainable world.
The lecture on population which was held on the second day of the lecture series was also delivered to a packed audience.
Sir John said that as the world population moved to 9.5 billion, the three most pressing challenges in the context of climate change and urbanization, and the quest for “living and flourishing sustainably” was food, water and energy.
Comparing the rich North to the South, he said that the North experienced low losses from farm to market, adding that about 25% of food is thrown away after purchase.
He illustrated this with India where between 35-40% of fruits and vegetables get lost in the food chain.
Sir John said the solutions for the North lay in providing incentives and in changing behaviour patterns; for the South, better distribution, storage infrastructure and global economics were the solutions needed.
He ended his lecture by posing the question on how there can be a reduction in wealth disparities, and whether or not universal education and health can be achieved; whether adequate supplies of food and potable water can be provided; whether economic migration can be managed humanely and civil conflict avoided; and whether we can live and flourish sustainably. He concluded by saying that it was possible to claim the future if the answers to all these were positive.
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, who chaired the two sessions, in concluding remarks, was extremely grateful to Sir John for accepting to deliver the lectures. He described Sir John Sulston as a “high achiever” and noted that his contribution to society, particularly in the sequencing of the human genome, was a clear testimony of the fact that “hard work pays”. He was hopeful that young researchers would be inspired by what Sir John had achieved.
While at the University, Sir John met with faculty members and graduate students from the Faculty of Science, as well as with the Vice-Chancellor and other members of Senior Management of the University.
The Vice-Chancellor later hosted a dinner in honour of Sir John and where the two exchanged gifts.
The lecture series was followed by a workshop on population jointly organised by the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences and the University of Ghana.
This year’s lectures, the 30th in the series of Aggrey-Fraser-Guggisberg Memorial Lectures brought together a large audience from academia, alumni, staff and students. Among the audience was Prof. Fred T. Sai who delivered the 1994 Aggrey-Fraser-Guggisberg Memorial Lectures.
The Aggrey-Fraser-Guggisberg Memorial Lectures was instituted in 1957 by the University of Ghana, to commemorate the contribution made to the founding of Achimota College and the advancement of education, particularly higher education. It is held annually in honour of James Kwegyir Aggrey, Alexander G. Fraser and Gordon Guggisberg. The lectures, delivered by distinguished academics from all over the world, is indeed the most prestigious lecture series and the high-point of the intellectual calendar of the country. | | | | Date Published: 11/04/2011 | | | |   |
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