Some biology students from 5th and 6th year attended talks at the Schrodinger at 75 Conference in September. This conference celebrated the 75th anniversary of Schrodinger’s “What is Life?” talk, given in Trinity in 1943. The theme of the conference was the future of biology. Scroll down to read reviews written by two of the Students.

The first talk we attended was given by Ada Yonath, an Israeli Nobel Prize winner. It was titled, “The Future of Structural Biology”. Yonath was the first person to discover the 3D structure of a ribosome. A ribosome is a tiny organelle found in every cell which creates protein. She explained how data and amino acids are brought into a ribosome, and how they come together to form protein. In her presentation, she showed 3D representations of this. She discussed how antibiotics work, by sticking to the ribosomes of a bacteria in places which prevent protein synthesis. At many points she discussed the “pink future” of science, because now that women are scientists, they are the future. Yonath has revolutionised the scientific world’s knowledge of protein synthesis. Brigid Etchingham-Coll 5G