| Thomas R. Cech  AKA Thomas Robert Cech
Born: 8-Dec-1947
Birthplace: Chicago, IL
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Chemist Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Proved enzyme role of RNA In a 1982 experiment with the protozoa Tetrahymena thermophilia, biochemist Thomas R. Cech discovered that ribonucleic acid (RNA) could act as its own catalyst, stimulating its own chemical reactions. Until then, scientists had believed that RNA was only a carrier of genetic information, so Cech and his team spent the next year double-checking and scrutinizing their results for a hidden protein "contaminant". His original finding was startling but eventually proven correct, showing that RNA can trigger the biological reactions previously thought to be catalyzed solely by proteins. Cech shared the 1989 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Sidney Altman, whose separate research led to the same discovery almost concurrently. Father: Robert Franklin Cech (physician)
Mother: Annette Marie Cerveny (homemaker)
Sister: Barbara
Brother: Richard
Wife: Carol Lynn Martinson (biochemist, m. 1970, two daughters)
Daughter: Allison (b. 1982)
Daughter: Jennifer (b. 1986)
University: BA Chemistry, Grinnell College (1970)
University: PhD Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley (1975)
Scholar: Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1975-77)
Teacher: University of Colorado (1978-83)
Professor: Biochemistry, Biophysics and Genetics, University of Colorado (1983-)
ACS Pfizer Award 1985
Guggenheim Fellowship 1985
NAS Award in Molecular Biology 1987
Heineken Prize for Medicine 1988
Lasker Award 1988
Nobel Prize for Chemistry 1989 (with Sidney Altman)
National Medal of Science 1995
CHF Othmer Gold Medal 2007
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator (2008-)
Howard Hughes Medical Institute President (2000-08)
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator (1988-2000)
American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1988
American Cancer Society
National Academy of Sciences 1987
National Cancer Institute Fellowship, 1975-77
Obama for America
Czech Ancestry Paternal
Author of books:
The RNA World: The Nature of Modern RNA Suggests a Prebiotic RNA World (1993, with John F. Atkins, Raymond F. Gesteland)
RNA Worlds: From Life's Origins to Diversity in Gene Regulation (2011, with John F. Atkins, Raymond F. Gesteland)
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