FRIDAY LECTURES : Initiation of translation by the ribosome, Friday, 3 October, at 3 p.m., IGBMC auditorium
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, known as Venki, an Anglo-American of Indian origin and recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is a pioneer in molecular and structural biology.
His group contributed to elucidating the structure of the ribosome, revealing how the genetic code is read and translated into proteins. For this groundbreaking discovery, he was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, together with Ada Yonath and Tom Steitz.
He is currently a Group Leader at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK.
Venki Ramakrishnan also investigates the biological mechanisms of aging and their implications for human longevity.
To learn more about this topic, a video is available here.
Conference Abstract:
Initiation of mRNA translation is a key regulatory step in gene expression, as well as the target of viruses. In bacteria, initiation involves three protein factors and a special initiator tRNA, which together assemble the small ribosomal subunit positioned over the start codon. In eukaryotes, the process if far more complex, and involves over a dozen factors whichrecruit the small ribosomal subunit to the 5′ end of mRNA.
Venki Ramakrishnan will discuss his work on the structure of eukaryotic initiation complexes without and with a start codon, and its implications for the mechanism of initiation. He will also show how certain core features are conserved across kingdoms despite the enormous evolutionary divergence in initiation.
The lecture will be hosted by Albert Weixlbaumer.
As seating in the auditorium is limited, access to Venki Ramakrishnan’s lecture is by registration only, on a first-com, first-served basis. It only takes a few seconds, so register now: here.
A unique opportunity to hear an exceptional speaker!