An Israeli Nobel laureate yesterday received a prestigious award that was established in memory of a late molecular biologist widely regarded as the "father of biomedical sciences in Singapore".

World-renowned biochemist Aaron Ciechanover, 74, received the Sydney Brenner Memorial Award from Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat at the 2021 Agency for Science, Technology and Research Scientific Conference held at Resorts World Convention Centre in Sentosa.

The late Dr Sydney Brenner, a pioneer in the field of molecular biology, had come up with the idea of setting up the first major research institute for science here - the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology - which was launched in 1985.

He died in 2019 at the age of 92.

Professor Ciechanover is currently a Distinguished Research Professor at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology's faculty of medicine in Haifa, Israel. He is the second scientist to receive the award. Dr Semir Zeki, a professor of neuroesthetics at University College London, received it in 2019.

Prof Ciechanover has spent his career delving into the darker side of the protein world - protein destruction.

Hailing Dr Brenner as one of his very few heroes, Prof Ciechanover said he was excited and humbled to receive the award in honour of the South African scientific giant.

He told The Straits Times: "I was inspired mostly by his intellect and deep knowledge of biology, and certainly by his contributions."

Dr Brenner had discovered the messenger RNA (mRNA) molecule in 1961.

Mr Heng said of the ground-breaking discovery: "This paved the way for the mRNA-derived vaccines that have helped us turn the tide during this pandemic."

In the 1980s, Prof Ciechanover - then a graduate student at Technion - alongside his professor and a colleague in the United States, discovered how cells deliver the "kiss of death" to kill off unwanted proteins in the body.

A molecule called ubiquitin "labels" the proteins that are to be destroyed. The marked proteins are then fed into the cells' "waste disposers" where they are chopped into pieces and destroyed.

This process is seen in DNA repair, quality control of newly produced proteins, and important parts of the human immune defence.

The team's discovery led to the development of several drugs to fight diseases, and Prof Ciechanover and his mentor Avram Hershko became the first Israelis to win a Nobel science prize.

Prof Ciechanover noted that the process they discovered has changed the landscape of treating blood cancers such as multiple myeloma - which forms in a type of white blood cell.

He has not stopped studying ubiquitin and is developing another candidate anti-cancer drug with his current research team.

"Over the next few years, the market will see more drugs based on the ubiquitin system coming into beneficial use for patients with different diseases," he said.

He was one of the recipients of the 2019 Public Service Medal for his contributions to Singapore's scientific talent strategy.

He has also been a member of the National Research Foundation's Fellowship Evaluation Panel for about 16 years.

As part of the panel's life sciences and medicine committees, Prof Ciechanover has been helping universities and institutions here "recruit the most brilliant scientists" from around the globe.

His advice to Singapore scientists is to be less formal, to be more open to changes in direction, and to be less bureaucratic, with "a little bit of free spirit".