Sidney Altman

Sidney Altman was a Canadian-American molecular biologist who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering that RNA can catalyze chemical reactions.

Thomas Cech: An American biochemist who discovered catalytic RNA independently and shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Cech independently established RNA catalysis, leading to joint recognition with Altman.
Ribonuclease P: A ribonucleoprotein enzyme that cleaves precursor transfer RNA to produce mature RNA molecules. Altman’s team showed its RNA component could catalyze the cleavage reaction.
Escherichia coli: A bacterial species widely used as a model organism in molecular biology. Altman studied RNase P activity in this bacterium, whose precursor transfer RNA supplied the experimental system.
Ribozymes: RNA molecules that catalyze specific chemical reactions. Altman’s RNase P findings established an early example of RNA acting as a catalyst.
Norman Pace: An American microbiologist whose research helped establish RNA processing in bacteria. Pace’s work on RNA processing helped shape the research context for Altman’s experiments.
Transfer RNA: A small RNA molecule that delivers amino acids to the ribosome during protein synthesis. Precursor transfer RNA provided the substrate whose processing revealed RNA catalysis.
RNA processing: The chemical modification and cleavage of RNA molecules after their initial synthesis. Altman investigated how bacterial precursor transfer RNA is processed into mature molecules.
RNA therapeutics: Medical treatments that use RNA molecules to alter gene expression or produce therapeutic proteins. Recognition of RNA’s active biochemical roles helped broaden interest in RNA as more than a passive messenger.
Francis Crick: A British molecular biologist who co-discovered DNA’s double-helical structure and helped formulate the central dogma. The central dogma framed the assumption that Altman’s discovery overturned: RNA was not merely an information carrier.
RNA catalysis: The acceleration of chemical reactions by RNA molecules acting as catalysts. Altman’s central discovery established RNA catalysis through the RNA component of RNase P.

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Non-coding RNARelated: His RNase P research independently demonstrated RNA catalysis in a cellular enzyme.