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Sun Hung Kai Properties and The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) will present again the widely acclaimed Sun Hung Kai Properties Nobel Laureates Distinguished Lectures on 6 Jan 2011, featuring Prof. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, 2009 Nobel Laureate in Chemistryon ‘How do Antibiotics Block the Protein Factory of Pathogenic Bacteria?’. During the lecture, Professor Ramakrishnanwill share his scholarship with CUHK staff, students, alumni and members of the political, commercial and education sectors.

Infectious diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria is a continuing world-wide problem. Nearly half of antibiotics act by blocking protein synthesis in bacteria. In this talk, Professor Ramakrishnan will give a brief introduction to the idea behind antibiotics, and then talk about the ribosome, the large molecular machine that translates the information in our genes to make proteins in all forms of life. Finally, Professor Ramakrishnan will conclude by showing how the atomic structures of the ribosome were used to see directly how antibiotics would block its function, and about how this information is now being used in the design of new antibiotics.

Prof. VenkatramanRamakrishnan grew up in India and moved to the U.S.A. in 1971. After initially being trained as a physicist at Ohio University, he switched to biology in 1976 at the University of California, San Diego. His interest in ribosomes dates back to 1978 when he joined Professor Peter Moore’s laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University. He began his independent career at Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1983. In 1995 he moved to the University of Utah to become a professor of biochemistry. In 1999, Professor Ramakrishnan moved to his current position as a scientist at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

In the past, Professor Ramakrishnan has also been interested in chromatin structure and in x-ray crystallographic methods. He currently focuses entirely on ribosome structure and function. In 2000, his laboratory determined the atomic structure of the 30S ribosomal subunit and its complexes with ligands and antibiotics. This work has led to insights into how the ribosome “reads” the genetic code, as well as into various aspects of antibiotic function. In the last few years, Professor Ramakrishan’s laboratory has published structures of the entire ribosome in complex with tRNAs as well as release and elongation factors.

The lecture will be shown live at local universities and the Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks to reach a wider audience. Hong Kong Education Citywill provide a hyperlink to the webcast for online viewing by secondary school teachers and students. There will also be a live feed to the Peking, Fudan, Shanghai Jiao Tong, Tsinghua, Zhejiang, Nanjing and Sun Yat-sen Universities on the mainland.

Free tickets will be available to give Hong Kong people a chance to benefit from the distinguished scholar’s insight. Details are as follows:

Lecture:

Date:           6 January 2011 (Thursday)
Time:          5:00 pm
Place:         LT7, 1/F, Lee Shau Kee Building, CUHK
Language: English

Ticket collection:

Tickets available from today, 3 January 2011

Tickets will be available while they last – one per person.  Public can also apply for online tickets at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/nobellectures/

Enquiries: 2609-8893

The Sun Hung Kai Properties Nobel Laureates Distinguished Lectures were inaugurated in 2004 with The Chinese University of Hong Kong.  The series brings Nobel Laureates to speak to a broad cross-section of the community, to promote the discovery and the dissemination of knowledge, encouraging life-long learning and innovation.  After this 17th installment of the series, 24 Nobel Laureates or renowned scholars will have lectured in Hong Kong.