Ribosomes still require a lot of research: Nobel laureate

Updated on: Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramkrishnan today said the study of ribosomes, which produce proteins that in turn control the chemistry in all living organisms, has started showing results, but the subject still requires extensive research.
"Ribosome (a kind of protein factory) has started showing its importance, but still requires more research which I and my team are doing," he said here.

Ramkrishnan and two other scientists, Thomas Steitz (US) and Ada Yonath (Israel), were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2009 for their pioneering work on ribosomes. As ribosomes are crucial to life, they are also a major target for new antibiotics.

The Indian-born US scientist was speaking at a lecture on "The Road to the structure of the ribosome; a personal account" at M S University here.

Before delivering the lecture, Ramkrishnan, a former student of the University, spent two hours in a laboratory there. He also interacted with the students doing research work in the lab.

The lecture was followed by a question-answer session. He also demonstrated through slides and videos how ribosomes produce proteins.

Ribosomes still require a lot of research: Nobel laureate

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