Harry F. Noller

Last updated
Harry F. Noller
BornJune 10, 1939 (1939-06-10) (age 83)
Alma mater University of California, Berkeley, University of Oregon
Known forRibosome structural and functional determination
Awards Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize (2006)
Gairdner Foundation International Award (2007)
Breakthrough Prize (2016)
Scientific career
Fields Biochemistry
Institutions University of California, Santa Cruz

Harry F. Noller (born June 10, 1939[ citation needed ]) is an American biochemist, and since 1992 the director of the University of California, Santa Cruz's Center for the Molecular Biology of RNA. He has made significant contributions to our understanding of the ribosome and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Contents

Early life and education

Noller is a native of Oakland, California. [1] He earned his B.S. degree in biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley in 1960 [2] and his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Oregon [3] in 1965 [2] He carried out post-doctoral work at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge and the Institute of Molecular Biology at the University of Geneva. [1]

Scientific contributions and honors

Noller joined the faculty at University of California, Santa Cruz in 1968. [3] In his decades-long study of the molecular translational machinery of the cell, he has made fundamental contributions in understanding the structure and function of the cell's protein-synthesis factory, the ribosome. Notable amongst these contributions are having demonstrated that the ribosome is a ribozyme and leading the solution of the first crystal structures at molecular resolution for complete ribosomes. [4] [5] [6]

Noller was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1992. [3] He has been recognized with prizes from the Paul Ehrlich Foundation in 2006 and the Gairdner Foundation in 2007, each of which was shared with eventual winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2009. [1] [7] He won a Breakthrough Prize in 2016. [8]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Harry F. Noller, Ph.D." The Gairdner Awards. Archived from the original on 1 August 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  2. 1 2 Soo Hoo Lee (2013-12-01). "Harry F. Nollder's Reflections". ASBMB Today (a publication of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology). Archived from the original on 2019-11-01. Retrieved 2019-02-28.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. 1 2 3 "UCSC biologist Harry Noller honored by Paul Ehrlich Foundation". University News & Events. University of California. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  4. HF Noller, V Hoffarth, and L Zimniak. Unusual resistance of peptidyl transferase to protein extraction procedures; Science 256:5062, 1416-1419
  5. JH Cate, MM Yusupov, GZ Yusupova, TN Earnest, HF Noller, X-ray Crystal Structures of 70S Ribosome Functional Complexes Science 285:5436, 2095 - 2104
  6. MM Yusupov, GZ Yusupova, A Baucom, K Lieberman, TN Earnest, JHD Cate, HF Noller, Crystal Structure of the Ribosome at 5.5 Å Resolution Science 292:5518, 883 - 896
  7. Nicholson, Josh (May 24, 2007). "Harry Noller Wins Award for Ribosome Work". City on a Hill Press. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
  8. "5 top scientists win Breakthrough Prizes in star-studded event". 5 December 2016.