Yoon Visits MIT: "Creative Science and Technology Cooperation... A New Frontier for the Alliance"

President Yoon Suk-yeol visited the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston on the 28th (local time) and stated, "Creative and innovative scientific and technological cooperation is a new future domain for the (Korea-US) alliance." President Yoon also mentioned the necessity of nurturing physician-scientists equipped with both medical and engineering knowledge.

On the morning of the same day, during a dialogue with digital bio scholars held at the Nano Building within MIT, President Yoon said, "Our alliance is not limited to defense and security." This is the first time a Korean president has visited MIT. This dialogue with overseas scholars is the third, following those with the University of Toronto (AI) in Canada and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (quantum) in Switzerland.

President Yoon Suk-yeol, on a state visit to the United States, is speaking on the 28th (local time) during a dialogue with digital bio scholars at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology near Boston.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

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The dialogue was moderated by Anantha Chandrakasan, Dean of MIT School of Engineering and an authority in semiconductor research. Professors Robert Langer, co-founder of Moderna; James Collins, founder of synthetic biology; and Dina Katabi, an expert in computer biomedical engineering, delivered presentations.

At the event, President Yoon remarked, "Breakthrough achievements made to overcome diseases have become important inflection points in expanding human freedom." He added, "Penicillin, considered one of the world's greatest inventions, and the development of numerous vaccines have extended human life and freed us from the fear of diseases," further explaining, "The vaccine that freed humanity from COVID-19 developed within one year demonstrates the power of digital bio."

After listening to explanations from the scholars about cases where digital technology is utilized in the advanced bio field, they exchanged opinions on what kinds of data could be usefully applied. President Yoon emphasized the necessity of nurturing physician-scientists who combine medical, biotechnology, and digital engineering knowledge, after hearing about MIT’s expertise in cultivating convergence talents to lead advanced bio innovation.

Additionally, guided by Professor Thomas Shultz of MIT’s Department of Biology, President Yoon also toured the advanced research facility for protein structure analysis, the "cryo-electron microscope." He stated, "Seeing the advanced microscope and the computer screen analyzing proteins frozen at such ultra-low temperatures gave me many insights."

Meanwhile, based on the key points discussed during the dialogue, the government plans to establish the "Digital Bio Initiative" (tentative name), which will include ▲ bio R&D integrating digital technologies such as AI with medical data ▲ nurturing convergence talents such as physician-scientists ▲ development and utilization of advanced analytical equipment for bio research advancement ▲ support measures for startups based on digital bio technology, and announce it in May.

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