Nobel laureate Aziz Sancar donates medal to Anıtkabir

Aziz Sancar, the first Turk to win a Nobel prize in chemistry, Thursday donated the medal he received to Anıtkabir, the mausoleum dedicated to Atatürk in Ankara, to commemorate the national day to remember Atatürk. Sancar has long credited Atatürk and his educational reforms as the main factor for his much-lauded win of last year's Nobel Prize.

Accompanied by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the 69-year-old U.S.-based professor presented the medal at a special ceremony in Ankara.

Sancar was among three scientists awarded a Nobel Chemistry prize by the Nobel committee, for his studies on how cells in the body repair damaged DNA. He discovered mechanisms used by cells to fix damage by ultraviolet radiation. Sancar and others had also discovered how cisplatin, a common cancer drug, and similar drugs affect the DNA of cancer cells, contributing to future research on better targeting and killing of cancer cells.

Sancar was born one of eight children in an impoverished family from a small southeastern Turkish town. He became the pride of Turkey when he was announced as a winner of the Nobel Prize in chemistry, which includes an honorary prize worth 8 million Swedish kronor ($950,000). He said in previous interviews that he would use part of the monetary prize for a non-profit organization he runs with his wife to help Turkish students in the United States.

Sancar studied medicine and worked as a doctor in his hometown for two years before moving to the United States to pursue further studies, which took him to the University of Texas and finally to the University of North Carolina, where he currently serves as the Sarah Graham Kenan Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency before the ceremony, Sancar said he was working on a new paper to lay out his research and help scientists locate and repair damage to DNA caused by UV radiation and chemotherapy. "I call this my Piri Reis map," Sancar said, referring to the 16th century groundbreaking map by an Ottoman cartographer. "This study is the most satisfying one for me over the last 10 years."

He said he has been working on the research since May 2015, where he and colleagues at the University of North Carolina developed the genome map. "We hope this study can pave the way for a new treatment in cancer," Sancar said. "This is the most detailed human genome map right now. I hope it will allow us to see new horizons."

The study marks the first time that scientists have been able to map the entire genome to understand precisely how to repair DNA damage. Sancar explained, "We can develop the map in normal cells and in carcinogenic cells, and we can tell and show this in any spot on the genome and how it is repaired."

The Turkish-born scientist told Anadolu Agency that publication of the research is due "within two weeks."

Sancar and his team discovered how the process of purifying enzymes happens in DNA damaged by UV irradiation and by chemotherapeutic drugs such as Cisplatin and Oxaliplatin.

He said he carries his "Piri Reis Map" in his wallet, next to pictures of his wife and daughter.