World laureates sound off in Hainan

Randy Schekman, 2013 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine

Schekman began investigating networks of intracellular membranes associated with the transport of proteins in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae at Berkeley. With the aid of others in his laboratory, he screened yeast for mutations that blocked the secretion of certain enzymes from cells. The work led to the discovery of regulating proteins.

"Over the years, I have seen great change in China. There is enormous investment by the government in basic science, which is very encouraging. Everywhere I go, there is optimism about the growth and application of basic science."

"One thing that's very important is giving young scholars the opportunity to create independently and not be managed by government bureaucrats to the point that officials appear to control them. That's really the most important thing about creativity, to give early-career people freedom to pursue their own curiosity."

"It is very encouraging to hear that more Chinese parents expect their children to be scientists. … So what I would urge is that children even at a young age have opportunities to do scientific experiments themselves, and think experimentally about how they test things. As I grew up, the most important thing in the development of my interest in science was not so much the classes I took but the opportunities I had every year to do my own science projects, which were put on display at local school science fairs, and others had a chance to see what I had done. These were all individual projects I did myself. I raised money for myself. For me, it was how I got into science. I think it could happen in China, too."