The 2011 Suddath Symposium on the Ribosome at Georgia Tech brings together researchers who are exploring various aspects of ribosome structure and function. The ribosome is a molecular machine that is responsible for protein synthesis in all living cells. This indispensable component of life, which contains both RNA and proteins, can be viewed as a molecular fossil. That is, the comparison of ribosomal RNA and proteins from distantly related organisms suggests that the origins and evolution of protein synthesis remain imprinted in present day ribosomes, providing a “rewindable” molecular recording of early evolution that appears to go all the way back to the origin of life. Because the ribosome is central to the biochemistry of all life, it is a major target for drug development. For example, the mode of action of many antibiotics is to inhibit translation or cause bacterial ribosome to make mistakes during protein synthesis. Due to differences between bacterial and eukaryotic ribosomes, the result of billions of years of divergent evolution, drugs can be highly effective against bacterial ribosomes without causing appreciable side effects in human cells. Thus, studies of ribosome structure, function and evolution have scientific implications ranging from understanding the origin and early evolution of life to the development of novel pharmaceuticals.

On behalf of the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Ribo Evo Center of the NASA Astrobioloy Institute, we look forward to welcoming you to this exciting event.

Keynote Speaker

Ada E. Yonath - 2009 Nobel Laureate - Weizmann Institute
Invited Speakers
Graeme Conn - Emory University
Christine Dunham - Emory University
George Fox - University of Houston
Joachim Frank - Columbia University
Eric Gaucher - Georgia Tech
Ruben Gonzalez - Columbia University
Steve Harvey - Georgia Tech
Nicholas Hud - Georgia Tech
Alexander Mankin - University of Illinois
Yomi Oyelere - Georgia Tech
Jody Puglisi - Stanford University
Olke Uhlenbeck - Northwestern University
Roger Wartell - Georgia Tech
Loren Williams - Georgia Tech
Jamie Williamson - Scripps Research Institute
Michael Yarus - University of Colorado at Boulder