PENANG, 4 September 2014 - "Just do your best," Nobel Prize winner in Physiology and Medicine 1993, Sir Richard J. Roberts, revealed when been asked about his secret of success.

“The key to success in research is to find a good place for you to implement your idea while working or studying, and constantly thinking about the great possibilities beyond the current level,” he said.

He said this during his delivery of a lecture titled “Why I Love Bacteria” to more than 200 staff members and students of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Sekolah Menengah Bukit Jambul, Penang Free School, and students of Inti College Penang.

Roberts also told the audience about how he developed his interest in science.

“My curiosity and interest in chemistry is what led me to pursue a PhD in Organic Chemistry at the University of Sheffield.

“Later I was attracted to biology after reading the book ‘Thread of Life’, written by John Kendrew and it influenced me to become a Molecular Biologist,” said Roberts, who is also a pioneer in Bioinformatics.

“One thing worth finding out was that bacteria had existed years before the existence of human being," told Roberts, 71 who also fondly known as Rich.

“If we can explore more on how bacteria react to a stimulus, I think we will create a solution to the various main problems in the society today,” added Roberts.

“We have misused antibiotics for such a long time; in fact we do not need antibiotics to stop diseases as there are other methods that can be used,” he said.

He said this while explaining on a variety of antibiotics that have been administered to animals in the farm, enabling them to grow healthier.

Also present were Vice-Chancellor of USM, Professor Dato’ Dr. Omar Osman; Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), Professor Dato’ Dr. Muhamad Jantan; and the principal officers of USM.

Sir Richard was here on a four-day official visit where he shared his expertise with lecturers of USM. He conducted a one day Young Researcher’s Workshop participated by more than 50 young and upcoming researchers from the various research centres of USM.

He also paid a visit to the Centre for Herbal Standardization (CHEST), Centre for Chemical Biology (CCB) and the Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS) of USM. - Translation: Siti Faizah Abd Halim/Text: Rafizah Md Nor. Zain/Photo: Mohd Fairus Md. Isa​