[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 127 (Monday, November 13, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10868-S10869]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING THE 2006 CALIFORNIA NOBEL LAUREATES

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I would like to take this 
opportunity to extend my most sincere congratulations to all of the 
2006 Nobel laureates. These individuals have shown themselves to 
possess some of the world's most creative and accomplished minds, and 
each has made a remarkable contribution to humanity. I am extremely 
proud to say that California is home to three of these individuals. 
Their names are Roger D. Kornberg, recipient of the Nobel Prize in 
chemistry; Andrew Z. Fire, recipient of a share of the Nobel Prize in 
medicine; and George F. Smoot, recipient of a share of the Nobel Prize 
in physics.
  Dr. Roger D. Kornberg was born into the shadow of a giant in the 
scientific community. Dr. Kornberg's father, Dr. Arthur Kornberg, won a 
share of a Nobel Prize in 1959 for his trailblazing work on DNA 
information transfer. Dr. Roger Kornberg's decision to follow in his 
father's footsteps reflects a man of clear vision and unshakable will, 
and it is extraordinarily inspiring to see an individual meet the high 
standard that was set before him.
  Dr. Kornberg graduated from Harvard University in 1967 and went on to 
get his doctorate from Stanford in 1972. For the last 26 years, Dr. 
Kornberg has been a professor of structural biology at Stanford, 
conducting cutting-edge research while guiding his students in their 
exploration of nature's mysteries. Over that time he tirelessly probed 
the questions surrounding how information is stored in genes and 
transferred to other parts of a cell. This process is called 
transcription, and it holds a key to understanding of how cells 
operate.
  As a result of Dr. Kornberg's efforts, we can now visually 
demonstrate how

[[Page S10869]]

information encoded in a cell's DNA blueprint is read and duplicated 
into what is called messenger RNA. This constitutes a significant leap 
forward in our knowledge of cellular mechanics and has brought us 
closer to identifying and rectifying the disturbances in the 
transcription of genetic information that is the cause of common 
killers like heart disease and cancer. Dr. Kornberg's work has already 
influenced the development of drugs and therapies for various 
conditions and is opening new avenues for future research.
  The story of Dr. Andrew Z. Fire is equally impressive and 
inspirational. Although extremely modest in demeanor, Dr. Fire has 
demonstrated world-class intellectual ability and unquenchable drive 
since childhood. Having graduated high school at the age of 15, Dr. 
Fire attended the University of California, Berkeley, after being 
turned down by his other choice: Stanford. Now, at age 47, Dr. Fire has 
achieved the highest pinnacle of success in his field, opened up 
previously inaccessible areas of research with vast potential for the 
future of medicine, and gotten into Stanford, where he is the third 
Nobel laureate of the institution's proud medical school.
  Dr. Fire, like Dr. Kornberg, was recognized for his years of 
exploration into RNA and its role in transcription of genetic 
information. More than 15 years ago, Dr. Fire became interested in 
understanding the genes involved in the earliest steps of cellular 
development. In an attempt to plot cellular development from the 
beginning, Dr. Fire designed an experiment that produced the exact 
opposite of the anticipated result: After injecting a worm with a piece 
DNA to increase the expression of a particular gene, Dr. Fire 
inadvertently succeeded in suppressing the gene completely. This result 
would eventually lead to the discovery of a fundamental mechanism for 
controlling the flow of genetic information--that of RNAi, or RNA 
inference, which quashes the activity of specific genes. This discovery 
was termed the ``Breakthrough of the Year'' in 2002 by Science Magazine 
and has earned Dr. Fire and his colleague, Dr. Craig Mello, the 2006 
Nobel Prize for medicine.
  The potential benefits of the discovery of RNA inference are 
limitless. By using RNAi to silence one gene at time and observing 
abnormalities the behavior of cells, researchers are able to identify 
the function of genes, and potentially, use silencing to reduce or 
eliminate cellular activity harmful to human health. Dr. Fire's many 
achievements constitute an extraordinary contribution to our 
understanding of how life operates at its most basic level, and 
demonstrate his outstanding talent and unwavering commitment to 
improving the health of his fellow human beings.
  Dr. George F. Smoot has for years been examining the cosmos in search 
of an answer to the biggest question of them all: How did it all begin? 
To an amazing degree, Dr. Smoot has been answering this seemingly 
unanswerable question. For 50 years, scientists struggled in vain to 
support the Big Bang theory with hard, indisputable evidence. Dr. Smoot 
dealt the contentious theory a further challenge when, in 1976, he and 
others found startling evidence that galaxies are clustered together 
and not, as previously thought, spread evenly throughout the universe. 
This observation conflicted with temperature readings that consistently 
found space to be an even temperature of 2.7 degrees above absolute 
zero. Dr. Smoot had presented the scientific community a quandary: How 
could the heat be evenly distributed through the universe if galaxies 
were not?
  It is a testament to Dr. Smoot's brilliance, ingenuity, and diligence 
that he, along with his colleague and corecipient of this year's Nobel 
Prize in physics, Dr. John C. Mather, would clear up the confusion 
resulting from the establishment of a ``lumpy'' universe and finally 
cement the Big Bang theory of the creation of the universe. To achieve 
that ambitious goal, Smoot overcame nearly insurmountable obstacles and 
broke through barriers that had thwarted previous generations of 
researchers. Dr. Smoot was a driving force behind NASA's construction 
and development of the COBE satellite, which under the direction of Dr. 
Smoot and Dr. Mather succeeded in detecting the minuscule variations in 
temperature that were anticipated by the Big Bang theory and the 
``lumpy'' nature of the universe.
  As a result of Dr. Smoot's incredible achievement, we now have a much 
clearer picture of where we came from and where we are going. His 
penetrating vision challenges the limits of human comprehension, 
transporting us to times and places that were once unreachable. Dr. 
Smoot has fundamentally changed the way we view the universe and 
secured his place as one of the most important astrophysicists of all 
time.
  It is with great pleasure that I applaud all three of California's 
2006 Nobel laureates. Dr. Kornberg, Dr. Fire, and Dr. Smoot have made 
extraordinary contributions to our understanding of how the universe 
operates, from the microscopic level of the cell to the vast level of 
galaxies. Their phenomenal insights have answered questions that have 
long puzzled the scientific community and raised new possibilities for 
the research of future generations. I thank these men for the many 
valuable gifts they have given humanity, not least of which is the gift 
of unbridled imagination and the belief that anything is 
possible.

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