Thomas A. Steitz

Thomas A. Steitz (1940–2018) was an American biochemist whose structural studies clarified how ribosomes build proteins. He shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for research on ribosome structure and function.

Ada Yonath: An Israeli crystallographer who pioneered X-ray studies of ribosomes and shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Her independent ribosome structures complemented Steitz’s work and earned them the Nobel Prize together.
Ribosome: A ribonucleoprotein complex that translates messenger RNA into proteins. The ribosome is the molecular machine whose structure and function Steitz investigated.
Macrolide: A class of antibiotics that inhibits bacterial protein synthesis by binding the ribosome. Steitz’s structural work helped locate how macrolides bind within the large subunit.
Lawrence University: A private liberal arts college in Appleton, Wisconsin, founded in 1847. Steitz earned his undergraduate degree there before pursuing biochemical research.
2000 ribosome structures: The landmark 2000 publications reporting high-resolution structures of bacterial ribosomal subunits. Steitz’s group reported the large-subunit structure, revealing the architecture behind peptide-bond formation.
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan: An Indian-American structural biologist who determined ribosome structures and shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. His parallel structural research completed the trio recognized alongside Steitz.
Translation (biology): The cellular process of decoding messenger RNA to synthesize a protein. Steitz’s structural work explained how ribosomes carry out this process.
Chloramphenicol: An antibiotic that inhibits bacterial protein synthesis by binding the large ribosomal subunit. Ribosome structures clarified the binding site and inhibitory action of this drug.
Harvard University: A private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, founded in 1636. Steitz completed doctoral research at Harvard, training in the molecular sciences.
Thermus thermophilus: A bacterium that grows at high temperatures and is widely used in molecular biology research. Steitz’s group used its ribosomes in structural work that supported high-resolution crystallography.

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