Venki Ramakrishnan

But that's just how science is, right?

But that's just how science is, right?

We did the painful way of... producing crystals which would take eight weeks to grow and were tiny. Then you'd have to take them to a synchrotron, these powerful x-ray sources, and hit them with x-rays and then analyze the data. And then eventually, if everything went well, you would get an image. And the first images were quite fuzzy. They were what we call low resolution images.

We did the painful way of... producing crystals which would take eight weeks to grow and were tiny. Then you'd have to take them to a synchrotron, these powerful x-ray sources, and hit them with x-rays and then analyze the data. And then eventually, if everything went well, you would get an image. And the first images were quite fuzzy. They were what we call low resolution images.

You couldn't see atomic detail, but you could see broader features, like you could see a double helix for the RNA. RNA, of course, also forms double helices like DNA. And when we saw that first double helix in the image of the ribosome, that was a very exciting moment because we knew that it was real because it had the features that you would expect. So it was a very exciting time.

You couldn't see atomic detail, but you could see broader features, like you could see a double helix for the RNA. RNA, of course, also forms double helices like DNA. And when we saw that first double helix in the image of the ribosome, that was a very exciting moment because we knew that it was real because it had the features that you would expect. So it was a very exciting time.

You know, I think... You know, smaller pieces of RNA had been already crystallized and their structures determined. So we knew that that's what RNA double helices should look like. I mean, the thing about the ribosome is not the structure of the individual pieces, but rather how they were put together in this large complex and how they interacted, how the different pieces interacted.

You know, I think... You know, smaller pieces of RNA had been already crystallized and their structures determined. So we knew that that's what RNA double helices should look like. I mean, the thing about the ribosome is not the structure of the individual pieces, but rather how they were put together in this large complex and how they interacted, how the different pieces interacted.

That's still basically the story. Of course, there are some genes which are never made into proteins. They stay as RNAs. And there are other parts of DNA and RNA that are involved in control, you know, start here or do this in response to this stimulus. So there are lots of control signals, but the part that codes for the protein

That's still basically the story. Of course, there are some genes which are never made into proteins. They stay as RNAs. And there are other parts of DNA and RNA that are involved in control, you know, start here or do this in response to this stimulus. So there are lots of control signals, but the part that codes for the protein

That's the heart of what we call messenger RNA or mRNA, which again, nobody had heard of a few years ago, but then COVID came along and everybody started shooting mRNA into their muscle. And of course, what that mRNA had was the gene for the spike protein of coronavirus. So when it went into our cells, our ribosomes latched onto it.

That's the heart of what we call messenger RNA or mRNA, which again, nobody had heard of a few years ago, but then COVID came along and everybody started shooting mRNA into their muscle. And of course, what that mRNA had was the gene for the spike protein of coronavirus. So when it went into our cells, our ribosomes latched onto it.

and made spike protein and displayed it to our immune system to react. So it's a perfect example of how all this molecular biology knowledge that we had accumulated over decades suddenly became useful. during a pandemic. People think that the vaccine took 11 months to develop, but actually it took decades.

and made spike protein and displayed it to our immune system to react. So it's a perfect example of how all this molecular biology knowledge that we had accumulated over decades suddenly became useful. during a pandemic. People think that the vaccine took 11 months to develop, but actually it took decades.

And it just so happened that we were at a time, at a point in time where we could very quickly implement these platforms.

And it just so happened that we were at a time, at a point in time where we could very quickly implement these platforms.

It's jumpy in the sense it's stochastic, but it's fairly deterministic. To give you an example, the error rate in making a protein is typically one in a thousand to one in 10,000. And that's quite a low error rate. It's much lower than the best peptide synthesizers that humans can make in the lab, have a much higher error rate and are much slower.

It's jumpy in the sense it's stochastic, but it's fairly deterministic. To give you an example, the error rate in making a protein is typically one in a thousand to one in 10,000. And that's quite a low error rate. It's much lower than the best peptide synthesizers that humans can make in the lab, have a much higher error rate and are much slower.

I mean, a bacterial ribosome adds about 20 residues a second. So if you made a movie of a bacterial ribosome, it would just be a blur. In fact, I have a movie that I sometimes show, and I show it slowly with all the players coming in and out. And then I say, okay, now I'm going to speed it up to real time. And it's just a blur. So it's an amazing machine.

I mean, a bacterial ribosome adds about 20 residues a second. So if you made a movie of a bacterial ribosome, it would just be a blur. In fact, I have a movie that I sometimes show, and I show it slowly with all the players coming in and out. And then I say, okay, now I'm going to speed it up to real time. And it's just a blur. So it's an amazing machine.