Celebrating Jewish Icons: Ada Yonath

Growing up as the daughter of Zionist Jewish immigrants who worked as grocers in Jerusalem, Ada Yonath did not lead a privileged life. Her family may have been poor, their living conditions were sub-par, but their aspirations were undaunted. 

From those humble beginnings, Ada emerged as one of the most brilliant scientific minds of our age, spearheading research into some of our deepest questions about the building blocks of life and becoming the first Israeli woman to win the Nobel Prize.

As a child of limited means, young Ada poured herself into reading. Books became her entertainment and her education. Even as a child, Ada displayed the natural inquisitiveness, intellectual curiosity, and endurance in the face of hardship that would define her adult life. When she was five, Ada wanted to take exactly height measurements of their home, so she undertook an experiment using stacked pieces of furniture. Climbing up on the wobbly stack, Ada fell and broke her arm. But did that dissuade her intellectual thirst? Not in the slightest. Even with a cast on, she was never content to leave a question unanswered or brush off the unknown.

Her family recognized and nurtured this attitude. Despite their poverty, her family fought to see her sent to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to pursue higher education. Her parents work ethic rubbed off on her. While working towards a Bachelors in chemistry, a Masters in biochemistry and later a PhD degree in X-Ray crystallography, Ada supported her own studies by tutoring younger students in math, scraping together enough money to pay for her expensive tuition.

Following the successful conclusion of her studies, Ada would go on to research and teaching positions in a variety of prestigious laboratories abroad. She held a post-doctoral position at the Carnegie Mellon University in 1969 and would later work with alongside Nobel laureate William N. Lipscomb at MIT. She grew professionally and academically, coming into her own as a scientist.

Ada would return to Israel in 1970 to establish the first protein crystallography laboratory in the country. This is where she would develop many of the ideas that would direct her career and guide her research. She studied the process of protein biosynthesis, looking specifically as the structure of ribosome, the process by which genetic code is translated to the protein that makes up a being's physical form. 

Suffering a serious bicycle accident that resulted in a concussion and prolonged period of immobility, Ada found herself confined to bed rest. Not content to simply let that time slip away, she used it as an opportunity to learn more about her field. Voraciously consuming scientific literature while bed-bound, Ada was struck by an idea, a strange observation about polar bears. Specifically, how polar bears are able to compress and preserve their ribosomes during hibernation and if the same process could not be applied elsewhere. When she finally got back on her feet, she pursued the idea eagerly.

However, what she was doing was widely considered impossible at the time. The specific nature of what she was after was considered too small and fast to study or quantify, but she pressed on. Ada, in her typical humour and humility, credits her concussion. That perhaps the knock to the head let her see possibility where others saw a dead-end. 

From that point forward, Ada poured herself into her work, dedicating over 40 years to the field of ribosome studies. It was this was ground breaking research that led to Ada being awarded the Nobel Prize in 2009. Her insights into protein biosynthesis have had an impact across multiple scientific and medical fields, an impact she plans to take it even further. 

Still actively researching and teaching at the age of 77, Ada's current goal is to apply her knowledge of the structure and function of ribosome to improving the effectiveness of existing antibiotic drugs as well as develop new ones that have become resistant to current methods of treatment. "New drugs for old bugs” so to speak.

Another example of Jewish perseverance and ingenuity, Ada Yonath is a true pioneer in the scientific community. An an inspiration for inquisitive minds everywhere that yes, you can make a difference in the world no matter your circumstances.