Yale’s Steitz named to Royal Society

Yale researcher Thomas Steitz was one of 52 scientists named as fellows of the Royal Society, the United Kingdom’s national academy of science.

Steitz, professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry, professor of chemistry and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, was one of eight foreign scientists to be honored by the society, an organization that has counted Issac Newton and Charles Darwin as members.

The co-winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in chemistry, Steitz was selected “for his pioneering contributions to the mechanisms involved in the processes of gene replication, transcription, control and translation that are fundamental to all life.”

Steitz, colleague Peter Moore and others at Yale were instrumental in discovering the structure of the ribosome, the cell’s protein-making factory necessary for life. The work has led to creation of a new generation of antibiotics now in clinical trials.

Founded in 1660, the Royal Society has three roles: as a provider of independent scientific advice, as a learned society and as a funding agency. Its membership includes renowned scientists from the United Kingdom and beyond.