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La máquina genética: La carrera por descifrar los secretos del ribosoma
Con su esbelta doble hélice y su enorme capacidad para duplicarse, el ADN es el indiscutible protagonista de la genética. En la delicada sucesión de reacciones químicas que llamamos vida destaca un personaje de reparto, responsable de convertir la información de los genes en proteínas para todo el ribosoma. Esta máquina genética traduce la información del ADN en instrucciones concretas para enhebrar aminoácidos y con ellos crear complejos arreglos proteínicos, esenciales para el desarrollo de cualquier organismo; desentrañar su estructura y su funcionamiento fue uno de los retos más apasionantes en la bioquímica de las últimas décadas. En estas páginas, Venki Ramakrishnan narra las peripecias de su formación científica, desde su natal India hasta su traslado definitivo al Reino Unido; la paulatina construcción de redes científicas en todo el mundo, tanto de colaboración como de acre competencia; el uso de herramientas tecnológicas de vanguardia, como el sincrotrón, para asomarse a las entrañas celulares; la grotesca política que se vive en torno al premio Nobel —que él obtuvo en 2009—. Tenaz y discreto, convencido de que el rigor y la pasión son esenciales para producir conocimiento nuevo, el autor explica con detalle y honestidad cómo triunfó en la carrera por descifrar los secretos del ribosoma."La honestidad personal de Ramakrishnan respecto de la ambición que lo impulsó se ve matizada por sus profundas reflexiones sobre el efecto potencialmente corruptor de los grandes premios. Un libro que será leído y releído como un documento importante en la historia de la ciencia". Richard Dawkins, autor de "El gen egoísta""Una obra encantadora y estimulante que arroja luz desde diversos ángulos sobre el mundo de la ciencia, sobre la naturaleza de los descubrimientos y sobre uno de los misterios más profundos de la biología del siglo XX. Muestra más allá de toda duda cuál es el proceso por el que avanza la ciencia". Siddhartha Mukherjee, autor de "El emperador de todos los males"
305 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 2, 2020
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About the author
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan
2 books2 followersVenkatraman "Venki" Ramakrishnan (born 1952) is an Indian-born American and British structural biologist, who shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada Yonath, "for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome". He currently works at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England.
Ramakrishnan was born in Chidambaram in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu, India to C. V. Ramakrishnan and Rajalakshmi. Both his parents were scientists and taught biochemistry at the Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda. He moved to Vadodara (previously also known as Baroda) in Gujarat at the age of three. Following his Pre-Science at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, he did his undergraduate studies in the same university on a National Science Talent Scholarship, graduating with a BSc degree in Physics in 1971.
In January 2010 lecture at the Indian Institute of Science, he revealed that he failed to get admitted to any of the Indian Institutes of Technology.
Immediately after graduation he moved to the U.S.A., where he obtained his PhD degree in Physics from Ohio University in 1976. He then spent two years studying biology as a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego while making a transition from theoretical physics to biology.
Ramakrishnan began work on ribosomes as a postdoctoral fellow with Peter Moore at Yale University. After his postdoctoral fellowship, he initially could not find a faculty position even though he had applied to about 50 universities in the U.S.
He continued to work on ribosomes from 1983-95 as a staff scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory. In 1995 he moved to the University of Utah as a Professor of Biochemistry, and in 1999, he moved to his current position at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, where he had also been a sabbatical visitor during 1991-92.
In 1999, Ramakrishnan's laboratory published a 5.5 Angstrom resolution structure of the 30S subunit. The following year, his laboratory determined the complete molecular structure of the 30S subunit of the ribosome and its complexes with several antibiotics. This was followed by studies that provided structural insights into the mechanism that ensures the fidelity of protein biosynthesis. More recently, his laboratory has determined the atomic structure of the whole ribosome in complex with its tRNA and mRNA ligands. Ramakrishnan is also known for his past work on histone and chromatin structure.
Ramakrishnan is a Fellow of the Royal Society, a member of EMBO and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He was awarded the 2007 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine, the 2008 Heatley Medal of the British Biochemical Society and the 2009 Rolf-Sammet Professorship at the Goethe University Frankfurt. In 2009, Ramakrishnan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada Yonath. He received India's second highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2010.
Ramakrishnan was knighted in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to Molecular Biology, but does not generally use the title.
Ramakrishnan was included as one of 25 Greatest Global Living Indians by NDTV Channel, India on 14 December 2013.
Ramakrishnan is married to Vera Rosenberry, an author and illustrator of children's books. His stepdaughter Tanya Kapka is a doctor in Oregon, and his son Raman Ramakrishnan is a cellist based in New York.
Ramakrishnan was born in Chidambaram in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu, India to C. V. Ramakrishnan and Rajalakshmi. Both his parents were scientists and taught biochemistry at the Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda. He moved to Vadodara (previously also known as Baroda) in Gujarat at the age of three. Following his Pre-Science at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, he did his undergraduate studies in the same university on a National Science Talent Scholarship, graduating with a BSc degree in Physics in 1971.
In January 2010 lecture at the Indian Institute of Science, he revealed that he failed to get admitted to any of the Indian Institutes of Technology.
Immediately after graduation he moved to the U.S.A., where he obtained his PhD degree in Physics from Ohio University in 1976. He then spent two years studying biology as a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego while making a transition from theoretical physics to biology.
Ramakrishnan began work on ribosomes as a postdoctoral fellow with Peter Moore at Yale University. After his postdoctoral fellowship, he initially could not find a faculty position even though he had applied to about 50 universities in the U.S.
He continued to work on ribosomes from 1983-95 as a staff scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory. In 1995 he moved to the University of Utah as a Professor of Biochemistry, and in 1999, he moved to his current position at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, where he had also been a sabbatical visitor during 1991-92.
In 1999, Ramakrishnan's laboratory published a 5.5 Angstrom resolution structure of the 30S subunit. The following year, his laboratory determined the complete molecular structure of the 30S subunit of the ribosome and its complexes with several antibiotics. This was followed by studies that provided structural insights into the mechanism that ensures the fidelity of protein biosynthesis. More recently, his laboratory has determined the atomic structure of the whole ribosome in complex with its tRNA and mRNA ligands. Ramakrishnan is also known for his past work on histone and chromatin structure.
Ramakrishnan is a Fellow of the Royal Society, a member of EMBO and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He was awarded the 2007 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine, the 2008 Heatley Medal of the British Biochemical Society and the 2009 Rolf-Sammet Professorship at the Goethe University Frankfurt. In 2009, Ramakrishnan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada Yonath. He received India's second highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2010.
Ramakrishnan was knighted in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to Molecular Biology, but does not generally use the title.
Ramakrishnan was included as one of 25 Greatest Global Living Indians by NDTV Channel, India on 14 December 2013.
Ramakrishnan is married to Vera Rosenberry, an author and illustrator of children's books. His stepdaughter Tanya Kapka is a doctor in Oregon, and his son Raman Ramakrishnan is a cellist based in New York.
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April 29, 2025
Uno de los mayores aportes a la ciencia, disfruté el libro y su forma de explicar el camino y experimentos que se necesitaron para lograr los descubrimientos. Lo recomiendo si tienes una ligera noción sobre biología celular, pero de igual forma se entiende bastante bien.
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