Professor Ada Yonath, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. Dr. Yonath received her M.Sc. in Biochemistry from Hebrew University in Jerusalem and her Ph.D. from Weizmann Institute in Rehovoth, Israel. She is a member of The U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the European Academy of Sciences and Art, The American Academy of Art and Sciences, and The Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities. She has received numerous awards for her work and is only the fourth woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and the first since 1964.

Yonath pioneered ribosome crystallography at a time that such a project on a multi-protein molecular machine was considered very far beyond the capabilities of X-ray diffraction and completely unrealistic. Ribosome particles contain as many as 56 protein molecules in addition to transfer ribonucleic acid (t-RNA), and have a molecular weight about 2.5 million times that of the hydrogen atom. At the time Yonath started her work, the structures of only a few protein molecules had been successfully determined. She nevertheless persisted and has remained at the very forefront of the field, not only in regards to structure determination, but also concerning the mechanism of ribosomal synthesis and its deactivation in the case of pathogenic bacteria. In the course of this work, she and her coworkers applied new experimental methods, including cryo-crystallographic ones and methods for properly phasing the observed X-ray scattered beam amplitudes of the very large molecular assemblies. In the end, she revealed the striking ribosomal stereochemistry that facilitates the translation of the genetic code into proteins. To achieve this goal, Professor Yonath had to be almost constantly on the go to seek the prime experimental facilities in the world.

Yonath has applied the structural knowledge of the full 3-dimensional structure to identify the detailed physiological action of the ribosome at the atomic level. By analysis of the eubacterial ribosome subunits and their complexes with targeted drug molecules having antimicrobial activity, she and her colleagues have shown antibiotics interfere with the action of ribosomes of disease-causing pathogens.

In short, Yonath’s work has been crucial in determining the working of a central class of the machines of life. The scientific community is fortunate for her accomplishments and courage needed to pursue this project.