Prince of Asturias Awards 1981–2014. Speeches

8 O viedo | C ampoamor T heatre | that we become more aware of the fact that only if we conserve this legacy handed down to us, this treasure that is our Earth, only if we avoid the degradation of our beautiful planet —our true home— to irreversible limits, shall we have fulfilled one of our major duties as human beings Our Laureate has known how to highlight the fact that it is impossible to find solutions to this problem if we are not capable of thinking globally; since no people, culture, race or country is free from its devastating effects. If we learn to work with this vision, we shall understand how related it is to other serious evils of our time, and we shall have more of a chance to get closer to solutions that are compatible with both progress and life. The Award for the Arts has been bestowed on the musician, singer and poet Robert Allen Zimmerman, known to us all as Bob Dylan, a symbol for millions of people, who sing his beautiful, suggestive songs convinced that —in unison with his dreamer’s cry— something might change for the better in the world. The answer is blowing in the wind, he has told us time and time again to the sound of his guitar and unmistakeable voice. The answer to so many evils that threaten human beings is blowing in the wind so that each and every one of us can capture it and feel the strength of unity, of shared will, of the courage to change. Although it has not been possible for him to accompany us here today, we wish to remember and acknowledge the unyielding hope of this austere musician, his sensitivity and the strength of his dreams. Dedication to others, serving juster causes as a way of life takes on greater value when what is at stake directly affects human life and, in particular, the knowledge of its biological bases as a means to solving the major problems caused by the most serious illnesses. The two eminent biologists who today receive the Award for Technical and Scientific Research, Britain’s Peter Lawrence and Spain’s Ginés Morata, embody the scientific attitude of the present day, enthusiastic about as well as committed to pushing back the limits of what we as humans know as reality. If for Albert Einstein true art and true science arose frommystery, on awarding them this prize, the Jury has highlighted the fact that both scientists have done no more —and no less— than work “on the last mystery of life”, convinced of the present-day possibilities of eventually understanding the programming of living matter and, hence, the alterations that separate health from illness, life from death. There is a basic unit in the physical support of all living beings, in the phenomena that characterize them. This finding has been fundamental for the spectacular progress of the life sciences over the last six decades That is why it makes sense to study simple living beings that serve as experimental models, obtaining results that are of general value The possibilities that this form of knowledge offers will continue to astound us. Such as the fact that a living being so small in size —which nonetheless is equipped with the attributes of more complex organisms, with their symmetry and their differentiated organs— has been the basis for constructing an entire genetic theory of animal design. Understanding this developmental program allows scholars to extrapolate the findings to human beings, analyse the controlled growth of body organs, discover why hundreds of types of differentiated cells may arise from one single cell, and address the lack of control caused by tumours, among other issues. The two scientists receiving the Award today exemplify the value of intelligent, lucid endeavour aimed at adding to the legacy of our knowledge the details of the formation and regeneration of complex organisms, why some cells are programmed to die so that living beings may develop, and also the way in which these age. The fructiferous cooperation between Peter Lawrence and Ginés Morata, at Cambridge and at other centres and universities here in Spain, has contributed to the creation of a school of “We have been forewarned for a long time now by scientists, ecologists, institutions and people that are sensitive to this issue of the need to combine industrial progress with the conservation of the environment and biodiversity.” 26 th O ctober 2007