Ada Yonath, a Nobel prizewinning biochemist and crystallographer, has died at the age of 87. She was recognised for her groundbreaking work in mapping the molecular structure of the ribosome, a feat many contemporaries believed was impossible.
Ribosomes are tiny cellular factories that synthesise proteins essential for building and repairing tissues. Yonath faced scepticism and derision from the scientific community for years due to the small size, irregular shape, and lack of internal symmetry of ribosomes.
Her breakthrough came after observing how polar bears' ribosomes remained intact during hibernation. This led her to attempt crystallising ribosomes from hardy organisms, specifically the thermophile bacteria Geobacillus stearothermophilus. After more than 25,000 attempts, she succeeded in the mid-1980s and pioneered cryo bio-crystallography to stabilise the fragile structures.
In 2001 and 2002, after nearly two decades of research, Yonath's team successfully mapped the bacteria's ribosome in three dimensions. This discovery had significant implications for medicine, demonstrating how over 20 antibiotics function by binding to bacterial ribosomes and paving the way for new drug development to combat antibiotic resistance.
Born in Jerusalem, Yonath received her PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science, where she conducted her ribosome research. She shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with biologists Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Thomas Steitz, becoming only the fourth woman to receive the award.