By: Tswelopele Maputla
On 20 November, Rhodes University and the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) hosted a Public Lecture by Professor Michael Levitt on the birth and future of Multiscale Modelling of Macromolecules. Introducing Levitt, Distinguished Professor Tebello Nyokong described Levitt as a scientist with a keen interest in finding solutions for science in South Africa even though he does not reside here.
The Pretoria-born professor emphasised the importance of young people doing science independently. Levitt says he owes much of his success to the fact that he was given an opportunity to do independent research from as young as 20. Under the instruction of Sir John Kendrew, Levitt assessed forces in small molecules to predict the energy and shapes of small molecules to compare predictions with experiments. Levitt believes that any good scientist has to be curious enough to experiment, “not knowing stuff is very useful”. It is this attitude that got him into looking at questions of how anti-bodies can recognise cancerous cells in the 80s. Fast track to the millennial age, his work is being used by pharmaceutical companies for cancer drugs. Reflecting on how far he has come, Levitt said “everything is applied but it takes time”
In concluding his lecture, Levitt encouraged young scientists to be authentic, “Science is about originality, and new ideas are worth a lot in science”