The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prizein Chemistry for 2009 jointly to
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge,
United Kingdom
Thomas A. Steitz, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
Ada E. Yonath, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
"for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome"
The ribosome translates the DNA code into life
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2009 awards studies of one of life's core
processes: the ribosome's translation of DNA information into life.
Ribosomes produce proteins, which in turn control the chemistry in all
living organisms. As ribosomes are crucial to life, they are also a major
target for new antibiotics.
This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry awards Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas
A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath for having showed what the ribosome looks like
and how it functions at the atomic level. All three have used a method
called X-ray crystallography to map the position for each and every one of
the hundreds of thousands of atoms that make up the ribosome.
Inside every cell in all organisms, there are DNA molecules. They contain
the blueprints for how a human being, a plant or a bacterium, looks and
functions. But the DNA molecule is passive. If there was nothing else, there
would be no life.
The blueprints become transformed into living matter through the work of
ribosomes. Based upon the information in DNA, ribosomes make proteins:
oxygen-transporting haemoglobin, antibodies of the immune system, hormones
such as insulin, the collagen of the skin, or enzymes that break down sugar.
There are tens of thousands of proteins in the body and they all have
different forms and functions. They build and control life at the chemical
level.
An understanding of the ribosome's innermost workings is important for a
scientific understanding of life. This knowledge can be put to a practical
and immediate use; many of today's antibiotics cure various diseases by
blocking the function of bacterial ribosomes. Without functional ribosomes,
bacteria cannot survive. This is why ribosomes are such an important target
for new antibiotics.
This year's three Laureates have all generated 3D models that show how
different antibiotics bind to the ribosome. These models are now used by
scientists in order to develop new antibiotics, directly assisting the
saving of lives and decreasing humanity's suffering.
Read more about this year's prize
Information for the Public
Scientific Background
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Links and Further Reading
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, US citizen. Born in 1952 in Chidambaram, Tamil
Nadu, India. Ph.D. in Physics in 1976 from Ohio University, USA. Senior
Scientist and Group Leader at Structural Studies Division, MRC Laboratory of
Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK.
www.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/ribo/homepage/ramak/index.html
Thomas A. Steitz, US citizen. Born in 1940 in Milwaukee, WI, USA. Ph.D. in
Molecular Biology and Biochemistry in 1966 from Harvard University, MA, USA.
Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and Howard
Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, both at Yale University, CT, USA.
www.mbb.yale.edu/faculty/pages/steitzt.html
Ada E. Yonath, Israeli citizen. Born in 1939 in Jerusalem, Israel. Ph.D. in
X-ray Crystallography in 1968 from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
. Martin S. and Helen Kimmel Professor of Structural Biology and Director of
Helen & Milton A. Kimmelman Center for Biomolecular Structure & Assembly,
both at Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
www.weizmann.ac.il/sb/faculty_pages/Yonath/home.html
The Prize amount: SEK 10 million to be shared equally between the Laureates
Contacts: Erik Huss, Press Officer, phone +46 8 673 95 44, +46 70 673 96 50,
erik.huss@kva.se
Fredrik All, Editor, Phone +46 8 673 95 63, +46 70 673 95 63, fredrik.all@
kva.se
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, founded in 1739, is an independent
organization whose overall objective is to promote the sciences and
strengthen their influence in society. The Academy takes special
responsibility for the natural sciences and mathematics, but endeavours to
promote the exchange of ideas between various disciplines. 2009年度诺贝尔化学奖刚刚揭晓，英国科学家文卡特拉曼-拉马克里希南(Venkatraman Ramakrishnan)、美国科学家托马斯-施泰茨(Thomas A. Steitz)和以色列科学家阿达-约纳特(Ada E. Yonath)因在核糖体的结构和功能研究中做出突出贡献而获得该奖项。
视频：三国科学家分享2009年诺贝尔化学奖
文卡特拉曼-拉马克里希南1952年出生于印度，目前任职于英国剑桥大学的MRC分子生物学实验室。
托马斯-施泰茨出生于1940年，目前任职于耶鲁大学和霍华德-休斯医学研究所。
阿达-约纳特出生于1939年，目前任职于以色列魏茨曼科学研究所。(周翔)
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