Structure and function of ribosomes
Year of award: 2011
Grantholders
Dr Venki Ramakrishnan
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Project summary
Ribosomes are complex structures within cells that use instructions in our genes to synthesise protein chains from individual amino acids, a process known as translation. Dr Ramakrishnan will continue his world-leading work to elucidate the structure and function of the ribosome, in particular studying the mechanism of translation and ribosomal stress response in bacteria, as well as the initiation and termination of translation in eukaryotes (higher organisms, including humans, whose cells contain a nucleus).