Nobel Laureate Ada Yonath, Who Decoded the Ribosome, Dies at 87

Ada Yonath, the Israeli scientist who won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her work on the structure of ribosomes, has died at age 87, the Weizmann Institute of Science said on August 31. Yonath was a professor at the institute, where she pioneered the use of X-ray crystallography to determine how ribosomes -- the cellular machinery that builds proteins -- are structured.

Her research helped explain how proteins interact with one another, and her work on ribosome structure went on to inform the development of more advanced antibiotics, including efforts to counter antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which is expected to become one of the biggest medical challenges of the 21st century. She also won the 2002 Israel Prize and numerous other international prizes over her career, and was a member of several scientific societies in the United States, Israel and Europe, including the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

When Yonath began her research on ribosome structure, most scientists considered the goal impossible, and she pursued it for years despite widespread skepticism in the scientific community. "People called me a dreamer," she recalled.

Weizmann Institute President Prof. Alon Chen said in her memory that Yonath "was an exceptional scientist who never hesitated to choose a path that others considered impossible and to pursue it for decades with determination, curiosity, and courage." He added: "Ada's legacy extends far beyond her scientific achievements. She showed generations of scientists what can be accomplished when one dares to ask big questions and persists in the search for answers."