Israel's Nobel winner: People called me a dreamer
Ada Yonath is first woman to win Nobel in chemistry since 1964; Netanyahu: You bring Israel pride.
By Haaretz Service Tags: Israel NobelIsraeli scientist Ada Yonath, a leading researcher in the structural biology field, was awarded a Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday, the Nobel committee in Stockholm announced.
Yonath shares the prize with Britain's Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Thomas A. Steitz, an American, for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome.
She told reporters after being informed of her victory that from the very beginning her project seemed to her Nobel-worthy, but many along the way had been wary of her ability to see the research through.
"From the first indication that perhaps this project would work, I was told that this was a project of Nobel standards."
At another point, however, she was told that her project would not succeed.
"You won't make it, what you want to do - others have tried and failed, so it won't happen. They gave me the impression that the problems were cardinal, that there was no chance."
Yonat said, recalling her decision to undertake research on ribosomes, "People called me a dreamer."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Yonath to congratulate her and expressed his "enormous pride, along with the entire nation" for her achievement.
"The Nobel Prize is a true Olympics of humanity," said Netanyahu. "It is an enormous achievement."
Yonath has focused her research on the structure of the ribosome, a part of the cell that synthesizes protein and translates genetic code in the production of protein.
Yonath was the first Israeli biologist to work with NASA in sending research material to outer space. She cooperated with NASA on 12 missions. Her research contributed greatly to the development of more effective antibiotics, which can overcome phenomenon of drug resistant pathogens.
Yonath is the fourth woman to win the Nobel chemistry prize and the first since 1964, when Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin of Britain received the prize.
"I'm really, really happy," Yonath said "I thought it was wonderful when the discovery came. It was a series of discoveries...We still don't know every, everything, but we progressed a lot."
"I must say I was shocked when they called me and said I was in the leading group. I was sure they were pulling my leg, so I said: 'here, they found themselves a new victim,'" said Yonath.
"I saw the number 46 on the caller ID, the country code for Sweden. So I said, 'they're taking this joke really far,' but the tone was very much Swedish, with a very Swedish accent, so it seemed fine after all."
Yonath is a professor and head researcher in the field of structural biology and biochemistry at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot.
She has won many prizes for her research in recent years, including the Israel Prize in Chemistry and the Wolf Prize in Chemistry.
This year's three laureates all generated three-dimensional models that show how different antibiotics bind to ribosomes.
It is a matter of having a little faith, said Dr. Jeremy Berg, director of the NIH's National Institute of General Medical Sciences. He was impressed with Yonath's ideas in 1987, when she spoke to a meeting at the non-profit Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York.
"I remember at the time being just completely stunned that she was somewhere between brave enough and crazy enough and because it was way, way, way beyond the technology available at that point," Berg said in a telephone interview.
Yonath found a way to freeze the ribosomes of bacteria and related organisms that thrive in the salty, airless conditions of the Dead Sea and make x-ray images of them.
It is the kind of work companies might shy away from, with a payoff decades in the future, and also arguably something American taxpayers should not have to fund. "But it was seen as certainly completely unique and something potentially so important that it should be funded," Berg said.
"These models are now used by scientists in order to develop new antibiotics, directly assisting the saving of lives and decreasing humanity's suffering," the academy said in its announcement on Wednesday.
"All three have used a method called X-ray crystallography to map the position for each and every one of the hundreds of thousands of atoms that make up the ribosome," the academy said.
Alfred Nobel, a Swedish industrialist who invented dynamite, established the Nobel Prizes in his will in 1895. The first awards were handed out six years later.
Each prize comes with a 10 million kronor [$1.4 million] purse, a diploma, a gold medal and an invitation to the prize ceremony in Stockholm on Dec. 10. The Peace Prize is handed out in Oslo.
Israeli physicist Yakir Aharonov lost the Nobel Prize for physics, despite predictions that he was likely to win. The committee awarded the the physics prize to engineers who developed the mechanism used in digital photography, preferring to award the prize to practical technology that could be used on a daily basis rather than the theoretical physics which Aharonov focused on.
The last Israeli to receive a Nobel Prize was Yisrael Robert Aumann, who was awarded the prize in economics in 2005 for his work on conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis. He shared the prize with Thomas Schelling.
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Israeli Nobel laureate Ada Yonath |
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Thank you :)
On behalf of all Indians. CONGRATS !!!!!
Obama gave the $$ to charity. Best 'boycott' of all.....
and now Obama who honestly admitted, "I didn't deserve it"? The Noble Peace Prize isn't always noble.
got it? Good! FYI ALL JEWS ORIGINALLY CAME FROM ISRAEL.
Einstein never believed in a 'personal' God. He did however believe in an "order to all things" that was brought about by a supreme being. You may want to redo your research. You also claim to be Danish, but we have often roven you know nothing of Denmark or its being or government. Why are Arabs always ashamed to use their true names, Ahmed?
Ida, you are a pride for the Middle East:)
A letter was written to philosopher Eric Gutkind In January 1954, a year before Einstein's death. In it, the Einstein said that "the word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish."
Ada's discovery does nothing for the ordinary person on the street right now and even less to advance their cause as a moral and just people in the Middle East with their horrendous mistreatment of another people in their homeland. How misguided .....Dutch
to counteract the tons of lies disseminated by Jew haters , throughout history , lies these haters consider "contributions" to the welfare of humankind. These r occasions to bragg to remind the haters and their side kicks of their loss and their excellence at stupidity.
Prof. Ada Yonath. Perseverance. Stubborness. A single purpose of mind,against all odds. Bravo !
the world. The arts,science,medicine,life science patents just to name a few.
A gold star for israel,women everywhere and humanity too. Everybody profits. Goodonya! May there be many more
Ribosome, whatever that is, rightly belongs to the Palestinians! Seriously, I'm glad I sent my check in to American Friends of the Weizmann Institute to support the work of people like Dr. Yonath.
I am proud to be have so many jewish people interested in improving the livelihood of all mankind!!! Congrats professor Yonath!!
It's quite an achievement after many years of research and dedication to your field.
I believe she was born in Israel, based on her hair style :) But why it matters to you? People and governments in Russia and other Eastern European countries do not consider Jews as their own people, even the ones who still live there and have their citizenships. They consider Jews to be foreign.
and compare it to the 22 countries surrounding us.
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If you say so Eli, if you say so, I must be more intelligent then that. After all, you are the one in Berkely, not me.
1/3 or half or 1/3 of half the prize how they manage those things do they fight over money and file lawsuit or never happen?
With so many Jewish Nobel winners as you picture the Jewish bragging and the vanity and praising of oneselves would be unbearable and go on night and day. There would hardly be any room to talk about something else anymore. If the good Lord in his wisdom only had made sure that the Jews, along with all their talents and their Streber mentality, also had received a drop of modesty and sensitivity for the irritation continued and repeated self-praise awakens in the receiver of it (but thank you, I am gratefull for the results). But I know it' s asking too much, you could as well ask a bear to become Catholic and the Pope to roam through the woods. But again, idle and competitive ego-filled strebers are very usefull and valuable to this world and also to me, so my appreciation and regards to you and your (new?) countrymen, meneer streberende ijdeltuit.
None of the above. She's born in Jerusalem in 1939 to an impoverished family. What else do you want to know?
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on being awarded the Nobel prize for Chemistry. After all these years the Nobel Prize remains a special distinction and winning it is the dream of any scientist. Nice to see a woman win!
What's it like living in Venezuelan occupied Ecuador?
Are you Saudi, Jordanian, Egyptian, Syrian, or Turkish Your piece doesn't address that. As for her, she was born raised and educated in the JEWISH State. But go ahead and add her invention to the list of Israeli enhancements you so gleefully boycott! By the way, why are you using an Israeli-patented computer to post with? That microprocessor you use was developed in Haifa - BY JEWS!
"...Israelis have time to do science because they have a viable country, armed and dangerous. The Palestinians are fighting to have a viable country, security, economy, freedom, etc, etc..., which Israel makes damn sure everyday they don`t get." (JUDGE) That must be it!
"If my theory of relativity proves to be correct Germany will claim me a German,and France will claime me a citizen of the world.However,if it proves wrong,France will say i'm a German,and Germany will say that i'm a Jew". Some people today proves him right!
As we say in Swedish grattis (congrats)Ada, and of course congratulations to the other two laureautes as well. I'm sure she'll have a great visit to Sweden although the awards are taking place during most dreadful season of the Swedish winter. It will be a great experiance none the less regardless of the darkness and cold. Greetings from Sweden
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Called Israel.
...only to the Palestinian Arabs, I actually made reference to those with whom Israel is in conflict, the entire Muslim-Arab Ummah, nation in Arabic. You see, the conflict is an Israeli Arab conflict of which the Palestinian Arabs are only a part. Indeed until the late 1960s they refused to be known as "Palestinians", only as Muslims and Arabs. It is in this context that I also concluded by saying: "we worship life and they death".
Congratulations! to the nation of Israel with her small land but people with great thoughts.We are happy ,how a young small democratic state can work so hard ,and Professor Ada Yonath is a product of such wonderful system.
For those who wonder... according to Wikipedia: she was born in Jerusalem and comes from a Sepharadic family. She moved to Tel Aviv later and studied there. Kol Hakavod Adah!
It is good provenance...
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So full of it. Israelis have time to do science because they have a viable country, armed and dangerous. The Palestinians are fighting to have a viable country, security, economy, freedom, etc, etc...which Israel makes damn sure everyday they don't get.
It should be a triumph for all humanity. It should be for all of us something to be proud of,yet it isn't so.I wonder why.
I have to admitt that i've expected the "Mohandes"from Hamas will get it.After all it is Scandinavia,but i guess i'm a couple of years ahead.
A well deserve awards to the other laureautes, and as honorful for their countries.Congrats. I just hope this doesn't feed the anti-Israel need for hate,and make them say it wasn't well deserved.
Kol Hakavod
Why bring religion up? I am sorry to bring about politics and religion. Please do not bring politics up. I am sure that most of the world are not so political/religious when discussing nobel prize.
Mazal tov and many brachot of success to Prof. Ada Yonath who has continued in a long line of Jews who have contributed to making this world a better place. She is another example of what a great people we are. How many muslims have won the Nobel Prize? How many Anti Semites will appreciate the contribution Jews make to make a better world. Nevertheless, we are Or La-Goyim. Mabruk!
I'm just curious, those who were calling for a boycott of Sweden, will they insist this Israeli scientist not accept the Nobel prize?
Is she polish russian check hungrian the piece didn't address that
What a welcome change from reading about the brain drain and boycotts! A great day for Israel -- and for women scientists.
Please ignore the haters who would try to detract from your magnificent accomplishment. There may be lots wrong with Israel, but you have shown that there is much that is right!
It is extra lovely to see a another women win this prize.
I'm just curious, those who were calling for a boycott of Sweden, will they insist this Israeli scientist not accept the Nobel prize?
that 14 Million Jews in a sea of 7 Billion people can win 25% of the world's Nobel Prizes. Very understandable.
....of making positive contributions to the world, if they only want to do so. Why not showing the same "talent" when it comes to politics (conflict with the Arab world)...??? If there only wouldn't be the fetish of "expansive Zionism", the Israeli people could be among the most successful and admired people in this world....
And that all in a country reviled recently by so many readers of Haaretz. Where are the Nazist cries against Sweden now? Goes to show - Swedes do honour those who deserve it, irrespective their country of birth.
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I add my congratulations to Dr. Yonath for winning this year's Nobel Prize in chemistry; it is a momentous achievement. And yes, she should be admitted to the ceremony and reception in her honor and that of all the new laureates. Her great accomplishment does not detract from the fact that the political entity from which she comes exists illicitly.
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There is still Amos Oz to get one this year for literature, and Yakir Aharonov -next year in physics. Chazek ve Ametz.
It is too bad that Nobel Prizes are not offered for cheap soap and olive wood trinkets. I would like to see your people be recognized for something constructive.
'Israel" the Palestinians want for their state! You said it all, that is precisely why peace with the Arab and Islamists is impossible. But of course everyone with some common sense and a shred of brains knows they are not interested in peace. As Islam always did, it is easier to conquere lands and peoples and appropriate those peoples achievements as their own!
Yes 17, thats all you can think about & thats why Palestinian society is rotting away. Instead of making peace, we hate. While the Israelis flourish, wee kill each other. I thank Allah for taking me away from your madness.
... let's counter it by declaring that we don't give them half-a-chance to even get to the point of aspiring for it...
Thank you, for dedicating your life in helping mankind. You are a role model for many. Congratulations.
congratulations.
Kol Hakavod from London on winning the Nobel Prize!!!!
Not so fast... she'll have to wait behind the other female nobel prize winners from a middle eastern state before she can collect her prize. OK, now she can go get it.
Well done,Eitan.I couldn't have said it more succinctly.
Oh my gosh! I am really sorry (lol) that you are disappointed that an Israeli and also a Jew won the Nobel prize.Perhaps,when the Arabs pour their energies into building a society more interested in peace with the JEWISH STATE than in its destruction, they will find the time and energy to pursue their scientific potential.Meanwhile, congratulations to Ada Yonath and the other scientists who won this distinguished and universally benevolent award.
Dear 17, when you or your family will need new generation antibiotics to save your lives, pleased think in your desperate panic of this Israeli occupier who saved you.
A joyous day for israeli science and a new proof that Weizmann is one of the very best places on earth to do science.
...over prejudice. And 'V' for 'Vonderful'. Nice job, Professor Yonath.
Mazal Tov. She makes us all proud to be Israelis and Jews. Our little country has contributed so much to the world in the arts, sciences, literature, technology, medicine, and yes torah literature. We all stand in honor of Geveret Yonath and her achievement. Kol Hakavod. The world will be a safer place when the societies around is encourge their young women to realize their human potential for the good of all mankind like our country does.
Bravo Ada Yonath!
Wonderful news in grim times. If only other people would devote their lives to combating human suffering rather than violence there would be peace. A great rebuff to the politically correct Israel haters who seem to think that Israel is the source of all the world's troubles and cannot see that it is the most dynamic,advanced and caring country in the Middle East. THREE CHEERS FOR ISRAEL!!!
... can't imagine that Prof. Breiman has much time to aspire to such lofty goals, so much of his time spent on political agitation...
...my stepson is finishing his PhD at Weizmann Institute too, in the same field with the lady... in addition to his duties as a reserve officer in the IDF... a small country, enormous accomplishments... constructive. Others are busy with full time destruction.
A well deserved award. Congrats. I just hope this doesn't feed the pro-zios need to gloat over everyone else because they ain't Israelis.
kol hakavod.....wonderful news.moral booster
Nothing much to say, simply that most Israelis abroad are very proud of this magnificent accomplishment. Congratulations