Ada Yonath, an Israeli crystallographer and biochemist, passed away at age 87. She achieved international recognition for her pioneering work in determining the three-dimensional structure of the ribosome, a feat that many in the scientific community initially considered impossible.
Yonath faced considerable skepticism from her peers when she first proposed mapping the ribosome’s molecular structure. The challenges were substantial: ribosomes are extremely small, roughly 20 nanometres in diameter, lack regular geometric form, and possess no internal symmetry. Even James Watson, a Nobel laureate for his role in discovering DNA’s structure, had attempted and failed at the task. Despite this discouraging context, Yonath persisted in her research, ultimately vindicating her approach.
The key breakthrough came from an unexpected source. While recovering from a bicycle accident in the late 1970s, Yonath read about polar bears’ ability to pack ribosomes in an orderly arrangement during hibernation. This biological observation inspired her hypothesis that ribosomes could be crystallised for study through X-ray and electron microscopy. Working with thermophile bacteria from extreme environments, she succeeded after more than 25,000 attempts, using a technique involving freezing samples at extremely low temperatures—a method now called cryo bio-crystallography. By 2001 and 2002, her team had successfully mapped the ribosomal structure in three dimensions.
The practical implications of her discovery extended well beyond academic interest. Understanding ribosomal structure enabled scientists to design more effective antibiotics by identifying specific binding sites where drugs could target bacterial ribosomes without harming human cells. Yonath’s work demonstrated how more than 20 existing antibiotics function and contributed to strategies for combating antibiotic resistance. The Nobel Committee in 2009 specifically highlighted these medical applications when awarding her the prize, which she shared with Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Thomas Steitz, making her the fourth woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Beyond her scientific achievements, Yonath was known for her political outspokenness and criticism of Israeli government policies. She received numerous honors throughout her career, including the Wolf Prize in Chemistry in 2007 and election as a foreign member of the Royal Society.
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