nobel prize

Rounding out the 2009 science Nobel Prizes are Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas A. Steitz, and Ada E. Yonath, who will receive the prize in chemistry for their work on an atomic-scale map of the ribosome.

Ribosomes are the cellular organelle responsible for assembling amino acids into proteins. If DNA is the blueprint, ribosomes are the construction workers. Ribosomes themselves are composed of a combination of RNA and specialized proteins.

We live in a world designed by Charles K. Kao, Willard S. Boyle, and George E. Smith. Their work on the physics of light made possible the fiber optic cables carrying this web page to your phone, and the digital camera on the other side. And on December 10th, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden will award them the Nobel Prize in physics for their work.

Military leaders throughout history have supposedly goaded on their troops with the phrase, "You wanna live forever?" In 2009, the answer for many people is "Yes, please," and the Nobel Committee has today honored three U.S. scientists for discovering the genetic code that regulates aging in cells.

For scientists, having to retract a paper is like a kick to the gut. It means that your work cannot be verified, and thus is likely either 1) an error or 2) a fabrication. So it comes as something of a surprise that Nobel prize-winning scientist Linda B. Buck had to retract a 2001 Nature paper this week, citing an inability to reproduce the reported findings, and "inconsistencies between some of the figures and data published in the paper and the original data."

Nobel winner Joshua Lederberg, recognized as one of the founders of the field of molecular biology, died this past weekend at the age of 82. Lederberg made key discoveries about gene exchange in bacteria—he basically figured out they can have sex, and dont simply reproduce through cell division.