Top-class international molecular pathologist Jürgen Roth On International Scholar’s day, which was held at university president’s residence on May 1st, approximately 120 international professors and researchers took part in that event. The top-class international molecular pathologist and cell biologist Jürgen Roth (65, Switzerland) also enjoyed this event. He came to Koreathis March as a distinguished professor for the new graduate program under the title of "Integrated Omics for Biomedical Science". This new graduate program, part of "World Class University Program", consists of Yonsei scientists and several world eminent scholars for Korea’s international competitiveness, and is sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. Professor Roth explained: "Omics consists of various disciplines such as genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and glycomics. Genomics handles the field of genes. Proteomics is about proteins. Glycomics covers the area of sugar structures on proteins and lipids. What I am going to teach is ‘Integrated Omics of cellular organelles’. My special research interest is quality control of protein foldingand protein misfolding. Many severe diseases result from protein misfolding such as Alzheimer disease, cystic fibrosis, and Fabry disease. We study the molecular pathogenesis of protein folding diseases and aim to develop novel therapies for therapy. We have focused on the use of chemical chaperons to help misfolded proteins to fold better. This is a very promising way, since it is not only very effective but also cost-efficient. Prof. Jürgen Roth served as professor of Cell and Molecular Pathology at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Zürich and as professor of Cell Biology at the Biocenter (Faculty of Science) of University of Basel before joining the Yonsei University. The University of Zürich and the ETH Zürich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) are housing some world top-class laboratories studying protein folding and protein glycosylation (i.e. the process through which proteins receive sugar chains). He said, "What I am doing at Yonsei University is to apply some sophisticated techniques to conduct proteomics and glycomics research. I will introduce knowledge on how to use electron microscopy for this type of research." Prof. Roth developed a technique called "immunogold labeling for electron microscopy" more than 30 years ago, which became a most powerful technique used worldwide in cell biology and biomedical research. He described his technique like this: "It is the use of nano-sized gold particles that are covered by antibodies to detect specific proteins by electron microscopy. Since antibodies can be made against many different types of proteins, the immunogold technique can be used for electron microscopic detection of many specific proteins in the cells." He gave reasons why he chose to come to Korea : "I heard Yonsei University has excellent reputation for its academic curriculum and high quality of biomedical research. Also, I have known Prof. Cho Jin Won (Dept. of Biology, Yonsei University) since long time and have worked together with him as past president and Swiss National representative in the International Glycoconjugate Organization (IGO)." He also remarked, "I proposed South Korea to become a member of IGO. Prof. Cho is now serving as Korean National representative in IGO and is a Secretary General and Vice-president of Korean Society of Glycobiology. Inour new WCU program, I work with Prof. Cho since we havea common interest in glycobiology and glycomics and our expertise complement each other nicely. Actually, all members of our Program work as a team but with different focuses." The new WCU program is devoted to biomedical research. "Especially in times of a global economic recession this cannot be taken for granted but shows a strong vision for the future development of biomedical research in Korea" Prof. Roth remarked and continued: "I am invited to speak at an International Symposium for the Promotion of Basic Research and Establishment of a National Vision of S&T her in Seoul this month and hope to show that the money invested in basic research is a good investment in the future." Prof. Roth said that he has been very busy in doing administrative stuff during March such as getting Korean foreign resident card and Yonsei IDas well as opening bank account and buying mobile phone, etc. "Many different people at Yonsei have helped mea lot doing this administrative stuff (smiling)and I am very thankful to them to help me through. I am going to teach students starting from next semester. To organize this well, I discuss with other professors on teaching methods" he said. Despite his busy schedule, Prof. Roth finds time to learn about people and places in Seoul, and music and art. So, Prof. Roth will be busy in many different ways.