Ada Yonath, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Dies at 85

Professor Ada Yonath, a Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry and one of the world's most recognized Israeli scientists, passed away on Monday. Born in Jerusalem in 1939, Yonath dedicated decades to studying the ribosome, the cellular component responsible for protein production. Her groundbreaking research culminated in international recognition in 2009 when she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, sharing it with Thomas Steitz and Venkatraman Ramakrishnan.

Yonath, born in Jerusalem's Geula neighborhood to a family of modest means, faced early adversity. Her father, Hillel, a rabbi, and her mother, Esther, ran a grocery store. After her father's death when she was 11, she moved with her mother and sister to Tel Aviv. She completed high school while working to support her family. Following her military service, she pursued higher education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, earning degrees in chemistry, biochemistry, and biophysics.

She later moved to the Weizmann Institute of Science, where she completed her doctoral work. After a postdoctoral fellowship in the United States, she returned to Israel and joined the Weizmann Institute's faculty in 1970. Her most significant scientific contributions involved deciphering the structural mechanism of the ribosome. This research, which began in the 1970s when understanding the ribosome's structure was considered exceptionally difficult, faced initial skepticism.

Yonath persisted, developing and employing novel methods to overcome the challenges of ribosome research. Her work significantly advanced the understanding of its function and improved the comprehension of how antibiotic drugs operate. Beyond the Nobel Prize, Yonath received numerous accolades throughout her career, including the Israel Prize, the Wolf Prize, the EMET Prize, the Rothschild Prize, and the Harvey Prize, solidifying her status as a prominent figure in Israeli science.