My memories from my childhood are centered on my father's medical conditions alongside my constant desire to understand the principles of the nature around me.
From Ada Yonath
After I spent my compulsory army service in the 'top secret office' of the Medical Forces, where I was fortunate to be exposed to clinical and medical issues, I enrolled to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
At the end of the 1970s, I was a young researcher at the Weizmann Institute with an ambitious plan to shed light on one of the major outstanding questions concerning living cells: the process of protein biosynthesis.
There are over 7,000 different types of proteins in typical eukaryotic cells; the total number depends on the cell class and function.
Proteins are constantly being degraded. Therefore, simultaneous production of proteins is required.
Many ribosomes act simultaneously along the mRNA, forming superstructures called polysomes.
Words originating from the verb 'to die' were frequently used when I described my initial plans to determine the ribosome structure.
I used ribosomes from very, very robust bacteria under very, very active conditions and found a way - I actually took advantage of research done before me at the Weizmann, the same institute I am now - how to preserve their activity and their integrity while they crystallized.
From the age of 11, I was cleaning floors, washing dishes, making sandwiches and being a cashier. Survival was the name of the game. Life was so hard that I had to struggle to keep up my standards. Under these conditions, I didn't think about science too much.
I was described as a dreamer, a fantasist, even as the village idiot. I didn't care. What I cared about was convincing people to allow me to go on with my work.
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