The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009

"for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome"

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan
Thomas A. Steitz
Ada E. Yonath

Press Release Press Release  source: http://nobelprize.org/index.html

7 October 2009 

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in 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.

For additional information please visit http://tinyurl.com/yeyb8cy

About: Iseehear (ISH) is an Internet software and database company developing novel and proprietary data management solutions for the biomedical research community. The lead product is SoftMouseDB (Transgenic Mouse Breeding Colony Management Database Software).  To learn more about SoftMouseDB please visit www.streamcell.com

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009

 "for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase"

Elizabeth H. Blackburn
Carol W. Greider
Jack W. Szostak

Summary of Press Release Press Release  source: http://nobelprize.org/index.html

5 October 2009

For the complete summary of Press release visit http://tinyurl.com/yc69tqt

This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to three scientists who have solved a major problem in biology: how the chromosomes can be copied in a complete way during cell divisions and how they are protected against degradation. The Nobel Laureates have shown that the solution is to be found in the ends of the chromosomes – the telomeres – and in an enzyme that forms them – telomerase.

The long, thread-like DNA molecules that carry our genes are packed into chromosomes, the telomeres being the caps on their ends. Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak discovered that a unique DNA sequence in the telomeres protects the chromosomes from degradation. Carol Greider and Elizabeth Blackburn identified telomerase, the enzyme that makes telomere DNA. These discoveries explained how the ends of the chromosomes are protected by the telomeres and that they are built by telomerase.

If the telomeres are shortened, cells age. Conversely, if telomerase activity is high, telomere length is maintained, and cellular senescence is delayed. This is the case in cancer cells, which can be considered to have eternal life. Certain inherited diseases, in contrast, are characterized by a defective telomerase, resulting in damaged cells. The award of the Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of a fundamental mechanism in the cell, a discovery that has stimulated the development of new therapeutic strategies.


About: Iseehear (ISH) is an Internet software and database company developing novel and proprietary data management solutions for the biomedical research community. The lead product is SoftMouseDB (Transgenic Mouse Breeding Colony Management Database Software).  To learn more about SoftMouseDB please visit www.streamcell.com