The Real Story of Aziz Sancar, the First Turkish Scientist to Win a Nobel Prize

Much has been said and written about Aziz Sancar, our source of pride, as it should be. For decades, scientists and almost everyone curious about science dreamed of someone raised in our country winning a Nobel. But does a scientist work to win one?

The search for knowledge has many reasons, perhaps foremost the human brain's extensive abilities. Reasoning and thought, the tendency to develop and improve, the desire to satisfy countless wishes, intense curiosity, the knowledge and authority granted to the first human, the universe's vastness and the number and characteristics of beings and events all gave rise to science and its branches.

Throughout history, people called "geniuses", "chosen individuals" or "social leaders" have lived ahead of their times. Many spoke words powerful and farsighted enough to remain relevant today.

"Chance favors the prepared mind!"

Louis Pasteur, the French scientist remembered for the rabies vaccine, might have said this for Sancar: overcoming difficulties, reading and working constantly, sleeping in laboratories without accommodation. Luck sometimes helped, but his mind was already prepared to seize it.

Many theories explain how geniuses differ, involving talent as well as intelligence. It remains a major scientific question. Perhaps before birth or during development, their neurons make optimal connections for particular skills.

I believe Sancar's real story is neither nationality, difficult education from village to medical school, nor overcoming deprivation. It is possessing a mind prepared for science, finding satisfaction only in reaching the knowledge it sought.