(Provided by Amgen Korea)
(Seoul = News1) Reporter Kim Jung-eun = On the 21st, Amgen Korea and the Korean Academy of Science and Technology held the ‘5th Amgen-KAST Biotechnology Award’ ceremony at the Academy Hall, recognizing three young researchers who achieved innovative research results in the fields of life sciences and biotechnology.
The Amgen-KAST Biotechnology Award was jointly established by Amgen Korea and the Korean Academy of Science and Technology to identify promising talents in the field of life sciences, contribute to the development of the domestic scientific ecosystem, and create an environment where scientists can focus on their research.
Celebrating its 5th anniversary this year, the ceremony awarded a total of 60 million won and plaques to Professor Sang-Woo Kim (Yonsei University, Department of Biomedical Systems Informatics) in the ‘Next-Generation Scientist’ category, and to Dr. Seong-Ho Boo (KAIST AI-New Drug Development Research Group) and Dr. Hyung-Cheol Oh (Yonsei University, Department of Pharmacology) in the ‘Postdoctoral Researcher’ category.
This year’s winners conducted research that explored the fundamental principles of life phenomena at the molecular, genetic, and cellular levels and proposed new approaches to disease treatment based on these findings.
Professor Sang-Woo Kim, the recipient in the Next-Generation Scientist category, was recognized as a leading next-generation researcher in bioinformatics by contributing to the development of foundational technologies for genomic data analysis and identifying mutations leading to cancer and neurological diseases.
Dr. Seong-Ho Boo, a winner in the Postdoctoral Researcher category, was noted for pioneering the innovative mechanism (circNMD) by demonstrating, for the first time in the world, that circular RNA, a stable form produced from DNA in vivo, induces the targeted degradation of nonsense mutation-mediated mRNA, suggesting a new direction for RNA-based disease treatment research.
Another recipient, Dr. Hyung-Cheol Oh, was recognized for his contribution to precision medicine research by developing the ‘PEER-seq’ CRISPR screening technique, which induces and accurately detects single-nucleotide variations using gene editing technology, thereby elucidating the functions of mutations found in various cancers and neurodegenerative diseases.
Shin Soo-hee, CEO of Amgen Korea, stated, “The Amgen-KAST Biotechnology Award is a meaningful program that encourages the challenges and achievements of young scientists for the future development of life sciences,” adding that “the achievements of the awardees, who have made new discoveries in various fields such as RNA, genomics, and oncology, clearly demonstrate the potential and innovation possibilities of domestic life sciences.”