Ada Yonath (1939–2026) – rybosomy, odwaga poznawcza i siła naukowych marzeń

On 31 August 2026, Professor Ada Ester Yonath, an outstanding Israeli biochemist and crystallographer, Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry in 2009, and a pioneer of modern understanding of ribosome structure and function, died in Rehovot, Israel. The scientific community has lost a researcher whose discoveries permanently transformed molecular biology and whose courage in pursuing seemingly impossible challenges became an inspiration to researchers around the world. For me, her passing also has a deeply personal dimension. I have been studying ribosomes for more than 25 years, and Ada Yonath’s work provided the foundation upon which I developed my own scientific interests, research questions, and ideas. The opportunity to meet her in person, talk with her, and see what she was like beyond the laboratory meant much more to me than simply meeting a towering figure in science. Ada Yonath’s scientific interests formed a coherent research programme in which crystallography, biochemistry, structural biology, and evolution complemented one another. From developing methods to study ribosome crystals, through elucidating the mechanisms of catalysis and antibiotic action, to proposing hypotheses concerning the protoribosome and the origins of translation, all these research directions were united by the conviction that understanding molecular structure can reveal fundamental principles underlying the functioning of life. This article presents Ada Yonath’s most important scientific achievements in the study of ribosome structure and function, their significance for molecular biology and the development of antibiotic therapies, as well as my personal recollections of a scientist whose research contributions and scientific outlook have been a source of my inspiration.