The Ribosome Under Synchrotron Light

Abstract

In this interview Venki Ramakrishnan reviews part of his work on the structural resolution of the ribosome, for which he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2009. He discusses the role that synchrotron facilities have played in unravelling the structure of the ribosome and how cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) has become an essential tool for structural biologists. He concludes with an overview on his current research activities at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology.