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Sidney Altman

File:Sidney_Altman_crop.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Sidney Altman

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Canadian American molecular biologist (1939-2022)

AI overview

Sidney Altman was a Canadian American molecular biologist who discovered that RNA molecules can act as catalysts to speed up chemical reactions in cells, a finding that challenged the previous understanding that only proteins could perform this function. This discovery, which earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1989, fundamentally changed how scientists think about the role of RNA in living organisms.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Nobel Prize

  • The Nobel Prize in Chemistry1989

    “for their discovery of catalytic properties of RNA”

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NobelPrize.org →

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Sidney
Family name
Altman
Gender
male
Citizenship
Canada
Place of birth
Montreal
Place of death
Rockleigh
Occupation
biophysicist
Educated at
University of Colorado Boulder
Employer
Harvard University
Languages spoken
English language
Religion
Judaism
Field of work
biochemistry
Image
Sidney Altman crop.jpg
Number of children
2
Show 6 more facts
Commons category
Sidney Altman
date of birth
1939-05-07
member of
American Association for the Advancement of Science
name in native language
Sidney Altman
interested in
molecular biology
date of death
2022-04-05
Sources (11)

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Encyclopedic overview

Sidney Altman (May 7, 1939 – April 5, 2022) was a Canadian-American molecular biologist, who was the Sterling Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and Chemistry at Yale University. In 1989, he shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas R. Cech for their work on the catalytic properties of RNA.

Family and education

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Sidney Altman” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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