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Celebratory Speech by Professor Dr Laudatio by Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Kräusslich for Prof. Dr. Eckard Wimmer [Check against delivery.] [Address] “A Heart for Viruses” - that was the title of an article on Eckard Wimmer in the ‘My Career – Jobs and Opportunities’ column in the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung this July. It is surely no coincidence that Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker, the 2011 Robert Koch Gold Medal winner wanted to call one of his books “I Love Viruses”. Given that these pathogens cause many diseases, this title was deemed to have too much potential for misunderstanding, and changed to “Viruses, the Secret Rulers” in the end. This fascination with the astonishing properties of these miniscule pathogens and their importance for the evolution and development of illnesses is what unites Eckard Wimmer and Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker, and forms a link to last year’s award. By awarding him the Robert Koch Gold Medal, we are now honouring Eckard Wimmer's life's work and his great contribution to polio virus research, and to the development of molecular virology as a whole. Eckard Wimmer is a chemist, as evidenced by the way he approaches his research subjects and what drives him in his work. Of course, this is mainly the desire to understand an important pathogen and its ability to reproduce and spread, as well as to explain its pathogenic potential. He concentrated on the virus which causes infantile paralysis, the polio virus, an ancient pathogenic virus that wreaked havoc on mankind for many centuries. Today, the polio virus is one of the most thoroughly studied viruses, in no small part thanks to Eckard Wimmer’s research. We can now even eradicate it fully through vaccination. Eckard Wimmer‘s approach to replication and pathogenesis of the polio virus has its roots in chemistry: To really understand something, you first have to break it down into its elements, to identify each individual component. When that has been done, the basic principles of chemistry state that you must be able to synthesise the original compound from the individual parts. Only successful synthesis proves that you understand the nature of the compound. This aim forms the basis of some of the major successes in Eckard Wimmer’s career. In 1981, he succeeded in sequencing the polio virus genome in his laboratory – giving us full genetic information on an infectious agent for the first time. At the time, he was asked whether he had not already achieved all he had set out to do with his research. His answer was simple and clear: “No, this genome is just the beginning.” The last 30 years, and not least the human genome project clearly show how right he was. C332.652 H492.388 N98.245 O131.196 P7.501 S2.340. Eckard Wimmer published this chemical molecular formula for the full organic material of the polio virus in 1991. It was the first time the molecular components of a virus had been described in full, creating a new basis for the debate on whether viruses are living beings or dead material – but more about that later. Eckard Wimmer and his working group also achieved the first milestone on the way to synthesising the virus from individual components in 1991. They synthesised the polio virus without host cells in a test tube, using the natural genetic information of the virus as a matrix. In 2002, his working group finally described the creation of a polio virus genome ‘de novo’, from individual, chemically synthesised components and the subsequent use of the synthetic genome to produce infectious viruses in vitro. This experiment was a milestone in the new 1/3 discipline of synthetic biology: For the first time, functional and multiplying infectious agents were created solely from synthetic components of the virus’ genetic material, using sequencing information freely available on the internet. It proved that viruses not only reproduce from existing viruses in cells, but can also be created from a mixture of molecules. In addition to its immense significance for virus and cell research, this work also changes our fundamental understanding of life itself. Eckard Wimmer held a lecture on viruses at the frontier of living organisms at last year’s Leopoldina German National Academy of Sciences‘ symposium, which was entitled “What is Life?”. As viruses can be described with chemical molecular formulae, and are not reproductive in their own right, they are generally classified as dead material; however, when one considers their effects on cells, organisms and entire populations, they appear very much alive. Eckard Wimmer described this as follows: “We view viruses as chemicals with a life cycle,” and said: “Outside the cell, viruses are as alive as a golf ball. They only take on the properties of a living organism in cells, as they can reproduce there.” At the end of the day, it is not appropriate to ask whether viruses are alive or dead; it depends on how you define living matter, and viruses and their properties only serve to highlight this problem. Eckard Wimmer‘s work in the early 2000s not only triggered a philosophical debate, but also caused an enormous outcry. “The Researcher who is Playing God”, or “A Visit to the Lords of Creation”: these and similar headlines typify the sensationalist reporting in many media outlets at the time. Today, the public and media perception of this research is far more sophisticated. On one hand, this is because it is clear that proving that this is technically possible does not lead directly to bioterrorism. On the other hand, synthetic biology has now been shown to have many interesting applications. Eckard Wimmer uses this approach specifically in his current research to develop new and better antiviral vaccines. They are based on computer-designed genomes with hundreds of mutations, and are currently being developed, not only for the polio virus, but also for influenza viruses, for example. At times, his research has indeed been controversial, but Eckard Wimmer never shied away from public debate. In spite of and in particular because of the controversial discussions, he has contributed a lot to the understanding and acceptance of modern infection biology. He has also passed on his fascination for science and especially for virology to generations of young scientists. As a former post-doc in his laboratory in the 1980s, I can confirm this from my own experience, and still remain grateful for my time there today. Eckard Wimmer was born here in Berlin, and began his studies in Rostock. In 1956, he moved to Göttingen in West Germany, where he completed his chemistry degree in 1959, and his doctorate in organic chemistry in 1962. He soon moved overseas, first to Vancouver, then as an assistant and associate professor to the St. Louis University. He originally only planned a short stay abroad, but there were very few opportunities in Germany for his interests at the interface of chemistry and biology in order to gain a fundamental understanding of molecular properties of human infectious agents – at least none which would have allowed him to do the research he had set out to do. So Eckard Wimmer went to the State University of New York in Stony Brook on Long Island in 1974, where he has researched and lived for almost 40 years. He was appointed full professor there, and acted as Chairman of the Department for many years. He has been a Distinguished Professor since 2002. 2/3 Without a doubt, Eckard Wimmer is one of the leading personalities in the development of molecular virology of human pathogens since its inception on the basis of phage genetics in the 1960s. He has received numerous awards and honours – too many to list in full here. Since 1998, he has been a member of the Leopoldina German National Academy of Sciences and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences since 2012. Also, more than anything else, he is a wonderful colleague, mentor and friend. I am delighted that he is receiving the Robert Koch Gold Medal and offer my sincerest congratulations. 3/3 .
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