From physics to biology
Venkatraman “Venki” Ramakrishnan was born in 1952 in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, and grew up in a family of scientists. After studying physics at Baroda University he went to the USA and earned a PhD in physics.
Then he changed course to biology. The switch was not easy: he relearned biology at graduate level and began working on the structure of the ribosome. Leaving an established physics path to become a beginner was the biggest risk of his career.
Inside the ribosome
The ribosome is the molecular machine that translates genetic instructions into proteins. Using X-ray crystallography and structural methods, his group played a major role in revealing its atomic-level architecture and how antibiotics bind to it.
The structure explained translation in molecular detail and showed how many antibiotics target bacterial ribosomes, a landmark in structural biology with uses from basic biology to research on antimicrobials.
Recognition
With Thomas Steitz and Ada Yonath he received the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and he later served as President of the Royal Society in the UK.
His path shows that a late change of career is not failure, and that strong quantitative training can be an advantage in a new field.
Sources
- Nobel Prize: Venkatraman Ramakrishnan
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
- Royal Society
- nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2009/ramakrishnan/biographical/
- www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/
- royalsociety.org/