Nobel Prize

12 October 1989 has decided to award the 1989 Nobel Prize in chemistry jointly to Professor Sidney Altman, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA Professor Thomas Cech, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA for their discovery of catalytic properties of RNA. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) – a biomolecule of many functions Summary This year’s Nobel Prize in…

Normally chemical reactions do not proceed spontaneously, but require the help of a catalyst.     A catalyst accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being changed. For example, the reaction of hydrogen with oxygen to produce water requires the addition of the metal platinum. These days we encounter the concept of a catalyst most often in connection…

Scientific American (1986) Vol 255, 76-84. Trends in Biochemical Sciences (1989) Vol 11, 515-518. Journal of the American Medical Association (1988) Vol 260, 3030-3034. Advances in Enzymology (1989) Vol 62, 1-36. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, (press release).  

Contents: Based on materials from the 1989 Nobel Poster for Chemistry.

The RNA world by Sidney Altman1989 Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry The phrase “The RNA World” was coined by in 1986 in a commentary on the then recent observations of the catalytic properties of various RNAs. The RNA World referred to an hypothetical stage in the origin of life on Earth. During this stage, proteins…

Exploring the new RNA world by Thomas R. Cech1989 Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry This article was published on 3 December 2004. Not too long ago, most people considered RNA to be just a disposable copy of the really important nucleic acid, DNA. It is the double helix of DNA, after all, that shows up…

The discovery of catalytic RNA, also called ribozyme, has been of great importance to both research and industry.     An important catalyst: In addition to cutting and rejoining RNA, catalytic RNA probably plays a major role in many biological processes. Life processes often require intimate cooperation between proteins and RNA. In the future researchers will probably…

I was born in Montreal in 1939, the second son of poor immigrants. My mother worked in a textile mill and my father in a grocery store before they met and married. It was from them that I learned that hard work in stable surroundings could yield rewards, even if only in infinitesimally small increments.…

Grandfather Josef, a shoemaker, immigrated to the U.S. from Bohemia in 1913. My other grandparents, also of Czech origin, were first-generation Americans. My father was and is a physician, my mother the homemaker. I was born in Chicago on December 8, 1947. The safe streets and good schools of Iowa City, Iowa provided the backdrop…

Presentation Speech by Professor Bertil Andersson of the , December 10, 1989 Translation from the Swedish text Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Ladies and Gentlemen, The cells making up such living organisms as bacteria, plants, animals and human beings can be looked upon as chemical miracles. Simultaneously occurring in each and every one of these…