The Future of Life

Thoughts & Reflections

Nobel Prize Dialogue Tokyo 2025

By Dr R Neerunjun Gopee

The Nobel Prize Dialogue is a free-of-charge, full-day event inspired by Nobel Week Dialogue which has been taking place in Sweden in Nobel Week since 2012. The event ‘aims to stimulate discussion at the highest level on a topical science-related theme by bringing together Nobel Prize laureates, the world’s leading scientists, key opinion leaders, policy makers, different interest groups and the general public, online as well as on-site. By bridging science and society, it’s an opportunity to stimulate thinking, excite imagination and inspire greatness.’

‘Nobel Prize Dialogue Tokyo 2025: The Future of Life’ was produced by Nobel Prize Outreach AB in cooperation with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), and Tokyo College Associate Professor EMA Arisa was one of the speakers. It was held at the Pacifico Yokohama Conference Centre on March 9.

One of the things that struck me was the number of times that the expressions ‘In my humble opinion,’ ‘I have no answer to this…’ ‘I do not know’ were heard during the day-long session. Nobel Prize laureates who have the humility to concede that they do not know, do not have all the answers, whereas we would expect the opposite!

Well, that actually shows their greatness. In fact, in a lively discussion on the future promise of quantum technology, which is based on quantum mechanics, the physicist actually working in that field to design quantum computers, said he doesn’t understand quantum mechanics! The others said as much too, not shy of confessing their ‘ignorance’.

It is said that when Einstein had come up with his Theory of General Relativity, only two other physicists along with him understood what it was all about. The situation today is still that comparatively a small number of physicists understand it. For laymen like us, it suffices to appreciate that general relativity is concerned about how large objects such as planets move about in the universe, with the force of gravity playing a major role, and that quantum mechanics is about how microscopic particles of matter such as atoms and subatomic particles move in relation to each other.

It is also noteworthy that, in a similar vein of humility, Einstein said that his theory, like all scientific theories, was not final, and could be replaced by another one if new facts came to light. On the contrary, however, his theory keeps being confirmed by experiments that are conducted by scientists to test various aspects of what the theory predicted.

Tokyo 2025 Nobel Prize Dialogue explored the ways that science and technology, combined with a better understanding of the world around us, might change our lives in the future. In the face of ever more complex challenges facing humanity, and all of life on earth, what can we do to help ensure we move towards the future we actually want?

It featured Nobel Prize laureates from diverse disciplines in conversation with a wide selection of international and regional experts. The meeting asked what it means to be human, now and in the years to come. Together the laureates investigated how new developments such as artificial intelligence, genetic technologies, quantum computing and the development of sustainable materials can most wisely be harnessed to deliver the maximal benefit to humanity, and the rest of nature with which we share this planet.

‘The essence of humanity: How did we get here?’ was the subject of a podcast by Physiology & Medicine laureate Svante Pääbo, who gave an overview of how humanity has evolved and what historically has made us human. By means of genomic studies that are now widely practised he has been able to show that humans cross-bred with Neanderthals, and that their genetic imprint is to be found in human DNA.

Equally lively was the discussion about what is life, the topic that was of most interest to me. 86-year-old Professor Ada Yonath of Israel, Israeli Nobel Prize Winner for Chemistry in 2009, gave an account of how it had taken her 21 years to unravel how the structures called ribosomes present in the cells (the cell being a fundamental unit of life) make proteins from the instructions contained in the DNA. This work will have applications in medicine – understanding these processes and what and how they can go wrong in disease can lead to the development of treatments.

But when asked what is life, she replied by repeating what a colleague had said, ‘I do not know.’ In fact, this is an ongoing debate in biology in particular, and in science in general.

As I reflected on this issue afterwards, I could summarise for myself four categories into which one could place definitions of life:

• physico-chemical, according to Irish physicist J D Bernal as far as I can recollect: ‘life is a dynamic equilibrium in a polyphasic system.’
• biological, as it is now understood: at its most fundamental, life is simply the capacity to self-replicate, that is to make multiple copies of oneself by oneself. Any organism that can do that is said to be living. That is why viruses baffle us: they are neither living nor non-living, lying at the intersection between the two realms. The advent of Covid-19 has upped the debate about whether a virus is living or non-living – because it cannot replicate by itself but needs to use another living organism to do so, by hijacking the multiplying mechanism of the latter that is found it its cells. The Covid-19 virus does that using human lung cells.
• existential: everyone, educated or non-educated, at some stage in his life journey asks: who am I? where do I come from? what happens after death?
• experiential – perhaps the one which has the widest range of perspectives because every individual can frame a definition from his/her own experience.

In fact, for those with an interest in the matter, the experiential dimension is the usual starting point for any enquiry into life, from what we observe in the world around us and what we undergo within as we use these observations to organize our lives at an individual level. From that vantage point scientists delve into the biological then the physico-chemical level to bring knowledge that leads to the development of technology and practical applications which enhance material comfort.

Thinkers such as our rishis (sages), poets and philosophers surf on other planes and come up with gems that induce deep reflection. These two among myriads will suffice as examples:

‘Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans.’

‘Life is a series of moments, miracles and experiences. Enjoy every moment, Enjoy the miracle, and Learn from the experience.’

Come to think of it, the life well lived can only be about shared joys and happiness, selfless service whenever possible, and not causing willful harm. It is love that is the driving force for these sentiments and actions. Unfortunately, it is the missing ingredient in a world soaked in hate and bent on wars and their killing fields.

Biologically, the future of life is assured. It is the future of humans, their survival, that cannot be guaranteed.

Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 11 April 2025