Free public lecture by Nobel Laureate, Professor Ada Yonath

What came first, the genetic code or its products?

Date: Tuesday 16 February
Time: 6.30 - 7.30pm  
Venue:  Rooms 105 & 106, The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, 1 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf
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Professor Yonath is a structural biologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and was recently awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2009 for the studies of the structure and function of the ribosome (a large complex molecule that synthesises protein).  This is a rare opportunity for those interested in science to hear an award winning international researcher present her latest groundbreaking findings.

Abstract:
We have identified within the contemporary ribosome an internal architectural element that seems to be the remnant of the ancient RNA machine capable of the formation of chemical bonds. This machine could be engaged in non-coded formation of peptide bonds and consequently in the production of short oligopeptides. Among the products, those stabilizing the machine, and/or accelerating simple chemical reactions, survived and subsequently led to the development of the genetic code.

  Please click here for a biography of Professor Ada Yonath