Turkish Nobel Prize aims to improve cancer treatment

ANKARA

"The study is a significant invention for both prevention of cancer and treatment of different types of cancer."

Turkish scientist Aziz Sancar was among three scientists awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for work on DNA repair.

“The study is expected to affect cancer treatment," he told Anadolu Agency. "It is hard to figure out the effect of the study on cancer treatment now but I am sure it will have an effect on it. The meaning of Nobel Prize is this anyway because it is expected to contribute to developments in cancer treatment in the future.”

Sancar, who is from Savar town in the southeastern Mardin province, was awarded for his work in mapping the cells that repair ultraviolet damage to DNA.

Sancar said that at least five years would be needed in order for their work to be used in cancer treatment.

Aziz Sancar, of the University of North Carolina in the U.S., was honored alongside Tomas Lindahl from Sweden and Paul Modrich from the U.S.

Sancar traveled to the U.S. in 1974 to study. “At that time, the means for fundamental science were limited in Turkey. But now Turkey has means and great investments are being made for fundamental sciences.”

“I hope that fundamental research will be made in Turkey at a European or U.S. level," he said. "In five to ten years, there will be Nobel quality Turkish scientists in Turkey and fundamental science research will be made at that [Nobel] level.”