March 2019 digital v1

Nobel Laureate Prof. Ada E Yonath
shared the world’s most coveted
prize in chemistry with Dr Thomas Steitz
and Prof. Venkataraman Ramakrishnan
in 2009. Her pioneering work on
ribosomal crystallography helped in the
precise identification of the structure
and functions of ribosomes and it
opened up immense possibilities of
targeting ribosomes for developing
new antibiotics. The first Israeli woman
to win a Nobel Prize, Prof Yonath
accepted her postdoctoral positions
at Carnegie Mellon University in 1969
and MIT in 1970. She was also group
leader with Heinz-Gunter Wittmann at
the Max-Planck Institute for Molecular
Genetics in Berlin. She was the visiting
professor at the University of Chicago
in 1977-78 and then headed one of the
Max-Planck Institute’s research unit at
DESY in Hamburg, Germany in parallel to
her research activities at the Weizmann
Institute.
Yonath focuses on the mechanisms
underlying protein biosynthesis by
ribosomal crystallography, a research
line she pioneered over twenty years
ago despite considerable skepticism on
the part of the international scientific
community. Ribosomes translate RNA
into protein, and because they have
PROF ADA E YONATH
slightly different structures in microbes
when compared to eukaryotes such
as human cells, they are often a target
for antibiotics. In 2000 and 2001, she
determined the complete high-resolution
structures of both ribosomal subunits
and discovered within the otherwise
asymmetric ribosome, the universal
symmetrical region that provides
the framework and navigates the
process of polypeptide polymerisation.
Consequently, she showed that the
ribosome is a ribozyme that places
its substrates in stereochemistry
suitable for peptide bond formation
and for substrate-mediated catalysis.
In 1993, she visualised the path taken
by the nascent proteins, namely the
ribosomal tunnel, and recently revealed
the dynamic elements enabling its
involvement in elongation arrest, gating,
intra-cellular regulation and nascent
chain trafficking into their folding space.
Additionally, Yonath elucidated the
modes of action of over twenty different
antibiotics targeting the ribosome,
illuminated mechanisms of drug
resistance and synergism, deciphered
the structural basis for antibiotic
selectivity and showed how it plays a key
role in clinical usefulness and therapeutic
effectiveness, thus paving the way for
structure-based drug design.
For enabling ribosomal crystallography,
Yonath introduced a novel technique—
cryo bio-crystallography, which became
routine in structural biology and allowed
intricate projects otherwise considered
formidable.
At the Weizmann Institute, Yonath
is the incumbent of the Martin S. and
Helen Kimmel Professorial Chair. She
is also a member of the United States
National Academy of Sciences, the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences,
the Israel Academy of Sciences and
Humanities, the European Molecular
Organisation and the European Academy
of Sciences and Art. In 2014, Prof.
Yonath was named a member of the
Pontifical Academy of Sciences by Pope
Francis. Her other awards and honours
include the Israel Prize (2002), Harvey
Prize (2002), Massry Prize (2004),
Paul Karrer Gold Medal (2004), Horvitz
Prize (2005), Wolf Prize in Chemistry
(2006), Rothschild Prize in Life Sciences
(2006), The EMET Prize for Art, Science
and Culture in life sciences (2006), Paul
Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaeder Prize
(2007), Albert Einstein World Award of
Science (2008), Wilhelm Exner Medal
(2010) and Honorary Doctorates from
several universities.
within the living organisms as a process of getting adapted to
their living environment and there is constant fight that takes
place between one and the other for survival.
Do you think Indian scientists could have achieved more
had the government been more supportive and encouraging
in research and development here?
I don’t know about the support system in India. So, I
can’t comment on that. But I can say that Indian scientists
have been doing well in many areas. There is good science
done in India, which may not be in antibiotics or new drug
development. But it is cleverer in many other areas. Also, there
are good Indian scientists outside the country who are brilliant
and much more capable than others.
The problem that I really see now everywhere is a lack
of support for basic science. Original discoveries should
be encouraged by governments and other systems. Basic
science that tries to understand what is not
understood so far brings real changes in
the society and that should be the focus of
research.
I know that your best advice to young
and aspiring scientists is not to seek advice.
Could you elaborate on this?
Because everybody has to develop the
way they are. Let the young minds grow with
what he or she is really passionate about. It
is the self-curiosity that leads one to discover
new things and that is the kind of research
that the world is looking for and will help
it progress. Taking advice is like copying
someone else, and it will not work the same
way for the other or result in anything new.
March 2019 / FUTURE MEDICINE / 39