Ada Yonath is one of the most
revered global scientific personalities, who dedicated her life towards
the study of the structure of ribosome. Born in an impoverished family,
young Yonath showed traits of making it big since an early age. She was a
curious child, inquisitive in her approach towards knowing the unknown.
Despite being born in an underprivileged family, she did not compromise
on her education and attained PhD degree in the field of Chemistry.
Subsequently, she committed herself to the study of the structure and
function of the ribosome. She made a massive contribution in the field
of chemistry by introducing the innovative techniques in cryo
bio-crystallography for enabling ribosomal crystallography. For the
same, she was bestowed with Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which she shared
with Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Thomas A. Steitz. With this, she
became the first Israeli woman to win the Nobel Prize, the first woman
from the Middle East to win a Nobel Prize in the sciences, and the first
woman in 45 years to win the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
Childhood & Early Life
Ada
Yonath was born to Hillel and Esther Lifshitz, Zionist Jews, in Geula
quarter of Jerusalem, on June 22, 1939. Six years before her birth, her
family shifted to Palestine from Poland.
Awards & Achievements
- She currently holds membership of various scientific institutions and academics including United States National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences; the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities; the European Academy of Sciences and Art and the European Molecular Biology Organization.
- Along with George Feher, she received the Wolf Prize in Chemistry in 2006 for structural discoveries of the ribosomal machinery of peptide-bond formation and the light-driven primary processes in photosynthesis.
- For her pioneering work in recognizing how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, she was awarded with the L'Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science in 2008. With this, she became the first Israeli woman recipient of the award. Same year, she was bestowed with Albert Einstein World Award of Science for her contribution in the field of ribosomal crystallography.
- In 2009, along with Thomas Steitz and Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, she was conferred with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. She became the first Israeli woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize.Personal Life & LegacyNot much is known about her personal life and marriage, except for the fact that she has been blessed with a daughter Hagit Yonath, who is a doctor at the Sheba Medical Center. She has a granddaughter Noa.Trivia
- For the study of the structure and functions of ribosome, she became the first Israeli woman to win the Nobel Prize. She is also the first woman from the Middle East to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
