Sidney Altman
Sidney Altman · Science & Medicine
Catalytic RNA
1939, Montreal, Quebec, Canada — 2022, Rockleigh, New Jersey, United States
Canada · United States
Sidney Altman is recognized among Jewish contributors to Science & Medicine — Catalytic RNA
Born in Montreal to Jewish immigrant parents from Eastern Europe, Altman showed that RNA is not merely a passive carrier of genetic information but can itself act as a catalyst — that the RNA component of the enzyme ribonuclease P performs the catalysis. This discovery of catalytic RNA reshaped ideas about the origin of life and shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas Cech. He spent most of his career at Yale University.
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Source: Nobel Prize Chemistry 1989
Catalytic RNA
Source: Nobel Prize Chemistry 1989
