GEN1000 Perspectives on General Education
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This module is designed to introduce to the students a number of renowned scientists and their highly significant discoveries which won them wide international recognition and prestigious rewards such as the Nobel Prize. A diversity of fields encompassing physical, medical and life sciences are covered. The inspiring anecdotes behind the discoveries are intended to teach students the importance of creativity and team work as well as the virtues of assiduity and perseverance.
Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:
a. Identify significant scientific discoveries in physical, medical and life sciences, with the basic concepts briefly explained in layman terms
b. Appraise the contribution of eminent scientists and their breakthrough discoveries that produced tremendous impact on subsequent development in their respective fields
c. Analyse the inspiring stories behind the painstaking efforts made by these scientists in the aforementioned discoveries, which in some cases were not given due recognition until years later
d. Evaluate how advances in one discipline/specialty might expedite the progress/development of another discipline/specialty, and that some discoveries were the fruits of inter-disciplinary collaboration
1 Discoveries related to the treatment of diabetes:
1.1 Discovery of pancreatic hormone insulin (Nobel Laureate in Physiology/ Medicine, Frederick Banting)
1.2 Discovery of its structure (Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Frederick Sanger)
1.3 Determination of its level in blood which enables diagnosis of different types of diabetes (Nobel Laureate in Physiology/ Medicine, Rosalyn Yalow).
1.4 Discovery of the mechanisms of the action of hormones (Nobel Laureate in Physiology/ Medicine, Earl W. Sutherland, Jr.)
1.5 Discovery of the brain hormones that control the secretion of the pituitary gland which lies below the brain (Nobel Laureates in Physiology/Medicine, Roger Gullemin and Andrew Schally)
1.6 Discoveries of growth factors such as epidermal growth factor and its role in cancer development (Nobel Laureate in Physiology/Medicine, Stanley Cohen and Rita Levi-Montalcini).
2. Discovery of the regulation of cholesterol metabolism and familial high blood cholesterol level (Nobel Laureates in Physiology/Medicine, Michael S. Brown and Joseph L. Goldstein)
3. Discoveries and design related to microscope and magnetic resonance imaging:
3.1 Design of the first electron microscope (Nobel Laureate in Physics, Ernst Ruska),
3.2 Design of the scanning tunneling microscope (Nobel Laureates in Physics, Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer).
3.3 Discoveries and design of the magnetic resonance imaging (Nobel Laureates in Physiology/Medicine, Paul C. Lauterbur and Sir Peter Mansfield)
4. Discoveries related to radioactivity
4.1 Discovery of radioactivity (Nobel Laureates in Physics, Antoine Henri Becquerel, Pierre Curie and Marie Curie)
4.2 Discovery of X- rays (Nobel Laureate in Physics, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen)
4.3 Discovery of X-ray spectroscopy (Nobel Laureate in Physics, Manne Siegbahn)
4.4 Analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays (Nobel Laureates in Physics, Sir William Henry Bragg and William Lawrence Bragg)
5. Discoveries related to genetics:
5.1 Discovery of the inheritance of certain traits in pea plants, that later formed the foundation of modern science of genetics (Gregor Johann Mendel) a scientist and friar who gained posthumous fame as the founder of the new science of genetics.
5.2 Determination of base sequences in nucleic acids (DNA, RNA) by Frederick Sanger (Nobel Laureate in Chemistry).
5.3 Discovery of the mechanisms in the biological synthesis of RNA and DNA (Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Paul Berg).
5.4 Discoveries related to the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material (Nobel Laureate in Physiology/Medicine, Francis Harry Compton Crick, James Dewey Watson and Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins)
6. Discoveries related to immune system
6.1 Theorizing the specificity in development and control of the immune system and the discovery of the principle for production of monoclonal antibodies (Nobel Laureates in Physiology/Medicine, Niels
K. Jerne, Georges J.F. Kohler and Cesar Milstein)
6.2 Discovery of “human immunodeficiency virus” (Nobel Laureate in Physiology/Medicine, Luc Montagnier)
6.3 Discovery of Prions – a new biological principle of infection (Nobel Laureate in Physiology/Medicine, Stanley B. Prusiner)
7. Discoveries of cyclic pathways related to food and energy in plant and animal life:
7.1 Discovery of Calvin cycle – cyclic pathway of carbon dioxide assimilation – photosynthesis – in plants (Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Melvin Calvin)
7.2 Discovery of Krebs cycle – cyclic pathway of energy production in cells (Nobel Laureate in Physiology/Medicine, Hans Krebs)
8. Discoveries by Chinese scientists
8.1 Theorizing parity laws which has led to important discoveries regarding the elementary particles (Nobel Laureates in Physics, Chen Ning Yang and Tsung-Dao Lee)
8.2 Discovery of a new form of quantum fluid with fractionally charged excitations (Nobel Laureates in Physics, Robert B. Laughlin, Horst L. Störmer and Daniel C. Tsui),
8.3 Discovery of transmission of light in fibers for optical communication (Nobel Laureate in Physics, Charles Kuen Kao)
8.4 Development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light (Nobel Laureates in Physics, Steven Chu, Claude CohenTannoudji and William D. Phillips)
1. Class participation and discussion (10%)
2. Group presentation (20%)
3. In-class quizzes (30%)
4. Individual final paper (40%)
1. Lehninger, A., Nelson, D. L. & Cox, M. M. (1993). Principles of biochemistry. New York: Worth Publishers.
2. Leroy, F. (2003). A century of Nobel prizes recipients: chemistry, physics, and medicine. New York: Marcel Dekker.
3. Symons, A. (2000). Nobel laureates, 1901-2000. London: Polo Pub.
4. Thompson, G.. (2012). Nobel prizes that changed medicine. London: Imperial College Press.
