Intv. with Roger D. Kornberg, Nobel prize winner for chemistry

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• published: 23 Jul 2015
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1. Wide of Roger D. Kornberg standing in his kitchen with his father Arthur as telephone rings 2. SOUNDBITE (English) Roger D. Kornberg, Nobel Chemistry Prize winner: "I was initially stunned even shocked by the news and I would say it has only just begun to sink in." 3. Roger Kornberg being hugged by his father Arthur, also a Nobel Prize winner 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Roger D. Kornberg, Nobel Chemistry Prize winner: "I am simply flattered by such an appellation. I don't think of my work as exceptional. I think of it as forming part of the larger body of effort around the world to which I referred. If others think so well of it then I can only be gratified." 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Arthur Kornberg, previous Nobel Prize winner for medicine: (Q: What is the feeling of a father whose son just won the Nobel prize?) "Indescribable. I have been in awe of his work for so many years and it seemed reasonable that he would get this recognition but one never knows and I am happy to have lived long enough and be alert enough to appreciate the wonderful recognition that he is getting on this occasion." 6. Various views Roger and Arthur on telephone to Roger's son 7. SOUNDBITE (English) Roger D. Kornberg, Nobel Chemistry Prize winner: "Forty-seven years later - he won the award in 1959. His award was in medicine. The award today is in chemistry. So much time has elapsed and the field of science has changed so greatly. The particular area in which I work is so very different. The connection is really one through memory and through family, not so much through the science itself." 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Arthur Kornberg, previous Nobel Prize winner for medicine: "In Roger's case, when he was eight or nine, my wife - late wife - Sylvie and I asked him 'what would you like for Christmas Roger?' A week in the lab.' And that was true then and it is true now. I think when this commotion is over what he'd like most is to have a week in the lab to do science." 9. Pull out of Kornbergs in kitchen STORYLINE American Roger D. Kornberg, whose father won a Nobel Prize nearly 50 years ago, was awarded the prize in chemistry on Wednesday for his studies of how cells take information from genes to produce proteins, a process that could provide insight into defeating cancer and advancing stem cell research. Kornberg was woken at 02:30 local time (09:30GMT) by a telephone call from Sweden. He told Associate Press Television in an interview early on Wednesday: "I was initially stunned even shocked by the news and I would say it has only just begun to sink in." Kornberg was pleasantly surprised that the Royal Swedish Academy described his work as revolutionary. "I am simply flattered by such an appellation," he said. "I don't think of my work as exceptional. I think of it as part of the larger body of effort around the world to which I referred." Disturbances in the process of producing proteins, known as transcription, are involved in many human illnesses, including cancer, heart disease and various kinds of inflammation. Understanding transcription is also vital to the development of treatments using stem cells. In its citation, the Royal Swedish Academy said: "Knowledge about the transcription process is also fundamental for understanding how stem cells develop into different kinds of specific cells, with well-defined functions in different organs." Kornberg, who will receive a check for 10 (m) million kronor (1.4 (m) million US dollars), said the benefits to medicine from his research have taken root. Kornberg's father, Arthur, shared the 1959 Nobel medicine prize with Severo Ochoa, for their studies of how genetic information was transferred from one DNA molecule to another. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/df06e45e1e081887142f3eb195e91e74 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork