For the first time ever, the Nobel Prize for chemistry has an Indian connection--Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, 57, an Indian-born physicist who graduated from Baroda university and is now a biophysicist at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK.
He analysed different parts of ribosomes, key units of the cell that allow DNA--the blueprint of life--to begin protein formation and thus all bodily processes, at a chemical level.
Though the importance of ribosomes in cells was known, the scientists who've won the 2009 Nobel chemistry prize were the first to use a technique called X-ray crystallography and prepare three-dimensional maps of the ribosomal surface and demonstrate how antibiotics bind to it.
When combating a bacterial infection, antibodies stick to the bacterial ribosome's surface and impair its functions Ramakrishnan, born in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, said he wasn't convinced when he got the morning phone call from the academy.
"Well, you know, I thought it was an elaborate joke. I have friends who play practical jokes," Ramakrishnan told AP over phone from his lab in Cambridge. "I complimented him (the caller) on his Swedish accent."
Ramakrishnan was in India last year, where he visited the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, according to M. Vijayan, an emeritus scientist there and president of the Indian National Science Academy (Insa).
Vijayan, who works in the same field as "Venky", as he is referred to by his colleagues, said a Nobel recognition for the scientists' work was imminent.
"During the 1980s and 1990s, there were five scientists, including Venky, whose work on the ribosome surface structure analysis was top class. It was only a matter of who among them would be feted." Ramakrishnan was recently made a foreign fellow of Insa, said Vijayan.
Amit Sharma, a crystallographer at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi, said he met Ramakrishnan this January at a lecture.
"He's already won several prizes and at that time he joked that he was at the peak of his fame and he could only go down from here," added Sharma.
The award makes Ramakrishnan the third naturalized American citizen of Indian origin to bag a Nobel, considered the highest international recognition for a body of scientific work.
He is preceded by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, who won the physics prize in 1983, and Har Gobind Khorana, who won the prize for medicine in 1968.
"These models are now used by scientists in order to develop new antibiotics, directly assisting the saving of lives and decreasing humanity's suffering," the Nobel academy said in its announcement.
The work of the scientists builds on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and, more directly, on the work done by James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, who won the 1962 Nobel Prize in medicine for mapping DNA's double helix structure, the citation said. In 2006, Roger D. Kornberg won the prize in chemistry for X-ray structures that showed how information is copied to RNA molecules, which carry information from DNA to the ribosomes.
"Now, one of the last pieces of the puzzles has been add- ed--understanding how pro- teins are made," said professor - Gunnar von Heijne of the - Swedish Academy of Sciences, - the chairman of the Nobel f Committee for Chemistry.
"This discovery is important - not only for science as such, but also gives us tools to develop new antibiotics."
Alfred Nobel, a Swedish industrialist who invented dynamite, established the Nobel prizes in his will in 1895. The - first awards were handed out - six years later.
Each prize comes with a 10 - million kronor (Rs6.8 crore) purse, a diploma, a gold medal and an invitation to the prizes ceremony in Stockholm on 10th December. The Nobel peace prize is handed out in Oslo.
The Prime Minster, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has congratulated Dr. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan on his being honoured with the Nobel prize for Chemistry. The Prime Minister in his congratulatory message to Dr. Ramakrishnan said that his work in extending the frontiers of Molecular Biology will be an inspiration to thousands of Indian scientists and researchers.
The Prime Minister’s message is as follows :
“I warmly congratulate you on the award of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2009. This high honour is just and due recognition of your exceptional scientific achievements in your chosen field of study. The work done by you and the other prize winners in furthering the scientific understanding of one of life's core processes has major applications in the field of medical science and drug development.
It is a matter of great pride for India that a brilliant scientist, who has gained the highest international recognition, should have done most of his education in India. It is a tribute to the educational system in our country and the dedication of the teaching community that we are able to nurture such international excellence in the sciences. The work that you have done to extend the frontiers of Molecular Biology will be an inspiration to thousands of Indian scientists, researchers and technologists, who strive to follow in your footsteps.
I wish you all the very best in your future endeavours and hope that you will continue to make outstanding contributions to the scientific progress of humankind.”
The Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Shri Vayalar Ravi has congratulated Dr. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan on his being honoured with the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
His message is as follows:
“I express my hearty congratulations to Shri V. Ramakrishnan, upon his winning the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. His pioneering work on ribosome will benefit humanity.
The people of India are proud by his unprecedented achievement and the Indian Diaspora all over the world is also overwhelmed by his accomplishment.
Shri Ramakrishnan has honoured the country by joining the list of Nobel laureates”
S.K.Sarda, President of Sikkim Chamber of Commerce while congratulating SV Ramakrishnan raised an important issue as to why an Indian when in India is unable to accomplish such success.
He came heavily on the Indian beaurocracy who are the big hurdles in India’s growth.
Unless India gets herself free from the rule of these Babus, our dream for making India genius will never be accomplished.
No comments:
Post a Comment