Contents
Venki Ramakrishnan
Mapping the ribosome, the molecular machinery that builds proteins.
Ribosome structure · Nobel Prize 2009
- Born
- 1952
- Birthplace
- Chidambaram, India
More people
Venki Ramakrishnan
Venki Ramakrishnan is an Indian-born structural biologist. He shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas Steitz and Ada Yonath for work on the structure and function of the ribosome.
Early life
Scientific family
Grew up largely in Baroda, where both parents worked in science.
Changing disciplines
Studied physics in India and earned a physics doctorate at Ohio University before turning to biology.
Career
- 1980s
Ribosome research
Developed his structural biology work at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
- 1999
Cambridge move
Joined the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology after working at the University of Utah.
- 2000
Atomic structure
His team reported the structure of the ribosome’s small subunit.
- 2015–2020
Royal Society
Served as president of the United Kingdom’s national academy of sciences.
Contributions
Small ribosomal subunit
Revealed the structure of a component that reads genetic instructions.
Gene Machine
Recounted the scientific competition and collaboration behind ribosome research.
Why We Die
Explored the biology of ageing and attempts to understand it.
Beyond the lab
A life across countries
His education and research took him from India to the United States and Britain.
Public science
Uses books and public discussion to explain research, its uncertainties and the people doing it.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗Nobel Prize biography and award ↗Photo: Prolineserver ( talk ). CC BY-SA 3.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
