Ada Yonath obituary

Nobel prizewinning biochemist who succeeded against the odds in mapping the ribosome For years, the crystallographer and biochemist Ada Yonath had to contend with the disdain and sometimes derision of many of her contemporaries after she set herself the challenge of mapping the molecular structure of the ribosome. Ribosomes are found in all living cells.

Effectively they are tiny factories that synthesise proteins, complex molecules that are vital for building and repairing the tissues and organs of animals and plants. Many scientists believed hers was a fruitless endeavour because ribosomes are so small – sometimes only 20 nanometres in diameter – irregular in shape and lacking internal symmetry. James Watson , one of the Nobel prizewinning…