Carlos César said on Tuesday that the Government of the Azores attaches great importance to the “Craig Mello, 2006 Nobel Prize for Medicine” itinerant exhibition given its significance for scientific dissemination and as an example for youngsters, who may find “motivation for study, research and discovery.”

Remind the recent visit of the scientist distinguished with a Nobel Prize to the village of Maia, S. Miguel, from where his grandparents left for the United States, the President of the Government highlighted the importance given by Craig Mello to his connection with the Azores, which, he stressed, is an honour and a source of pride.

“There are not many regions in the world that may claim a Nobel Prize as theirs and it is not any region that is claimed as his by a Nobel Prize,” stressed Carlos César.

For Carlos César, this fact – that motivates, after all, the exhibition whose opening ceremony he presided over in Angra do Heroísmo – is good news in a world where what is news usually is not for good reasons.

“We have good scientists, good teachers and good students, good employers, good fishers, good farmers, good examples, but we have very little good news about all these good people in our Media,” regretted the President of the Government.

He stressed that “if by chance some spendthrift manager who runs snack-bar on a trailer goes bankrupt, he will be headline on television news. But if we want to pay tribute to an Azorean descent who was awarded with a Nobel Prize, television ignores this event and therefore will not mention it on the television news.”

The exhibition which was opened on Tuesday is an initiative of the Presidency of the Government, through the Coordination of Palaces and the Regional Directorate of Culture, following Professor Craig Mello’s visit to the Azores in July 2009 at the invitation of Carlos César.

This display consists of a set of modular displays where the Medal and Certificate of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Medicine will be exhibited as well as the book containing the genealogy of the laureate, which was published by the Presidency of the Regional Government of Azores, through the Ponta Delgada Public Library and Regional Archive.

One should remind that the “Craig Mello, 2006 Nobel Prize for Medicine” itinerant exhibition has already been open to the public at the Ribeira Grande Municipal Museum, the municipality of origin of Craig Mello’s ancestors, at the Whaling Museum in Lajes do Pico and at the Santa Cruz da Graciosa Municipal Library.

The exhibition will open to the public at the Capitães-Generais Palace from May 25 to June 18 and from June 28 to 30. It will then travel to the islands of Corvo, Flores and Faial.