DR Ferid Murad, American-born of Albanian origin, is a biochemist at George Washington University, Washington DC.

He shared the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1998 for the discovery of nitric oxide to relax blood vessels in the cardiovascular system.

His parents ran a restaurant where he worked along with his two brothers.

Dr Murad used to memorise the orders from customers and tally their bills in minds, which he believed trained his memory and maths skills (Nature, Oct 13, 2011).

Thousands of young Pakistanis working in the restaurants and tuck shops do the same but there is absolutely no programme with the government to potentise and use their learning skills.

This is sheer wastage of potential. Our hats are off for top position holders like Mohsin Ali. Simultaneously, his acceptance of prizes from political leaders/governments is not very admirable.

Our politicians use such donations, given for good cause at one time, for their political motives later on.

M. ANZAR Canada