American biochemist and physicist Venkatraman Ramakrishnan described atom-by-atom the structure of ribosomes, mitten-shaped particles comprised of ribonucleic acid (RNA) and proteins found in the cell cytoplasm. He was born in India to parents who were both biochemists, and childhood friends remember him as a "super nerd kid"[1]. Ramakrishnan received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2009, sharing the honor with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath. His wife, Vera Rosenberry, is the author and illustrator of the "Vera" series of children's books.
[1] Raja Bose, The Times of India, 8 October 2009, quoting Dr. Gyan Bhanot.
Father: C. V. Ramakrishnan (biochemist)
Mother: Rajalakshmi Ramakrishnan (biochemist)
Wife: Vera Rosenberry (author, two children)
Son: Raman Ramakrishnan (cellist)
Daughter: Tanya Kapka (stepdaughter, physician)
High School: Rosary High School, Baroda, India
University: BS Physics, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Baroda, India (1971)
University: PhD Physics, Ohio University (1976)
Scholar: Biology, University of California at San Diego (1976-78)
Scholar: Molecular Biology, Yale University (1978-82)
Scholar: Biophysics, Brookhaven National Laboratory (1983-95)
Scholar: Molecular Biology, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, England (1991-92)
Professor: Biochemistry, University of Utah (1995-99)
Scholar: Molecular Biology, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, England (1999-)
Scholar: Biophysics, Cambridge University (2008-)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory Physicist (1982-83)
Guggenheim Fellowship 1991-92
Datta Medal 2007
Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine 2007
Heatley Medal 2008
Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2009 (with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath)
Royal Society 2003
National Academy of Sciences 2004
Indian Academy of Sciences 2008
European Molecular Biology Organization 2002
Naturalized US Citizen
Indian Ancestry
Tamil Ancestry
Official Website:
http://www.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/ribo/homepage/ramak/index.html
