Thomas A. Steitz

{{Infobox scientist

| image = Nobel Prize 2009-Press Conference KVA-10.jpg

| caption = Steitz in 2009

| name = Thomas Steitz

| honorific_suffix = ForMemRS

| birth_name = Thomas Arthur Steitz

| birth_date = {{Birth date|mf=yes|1940|08|23|}}

| birth_place = Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2018|10|09|1940|08|23|mf=yes}}

| death_place = Branford, Connecticut, U.S.

| field = {{Plainlist|

| work_institution = Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University, University of California, Berkeley

| alma_mater = Wauwatosa High School, Lawrence University, Harvard University

| doctoral_advisor = William N. Lipscomb, Jr.

| academic_advisors = David M. Blow

| thesis_title = The 6⁰A crystal structure of carboxypeptidase A

| thesis_url = http://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990039531080203941/catalog

| thesis_year = 1967

| notable_students = Nenad Ban

| known_for = Bio-crystallography

| prizes = {{Plainlist|

Sir Hans Krebs Medal {{small|(2000)}}
Keio Medical Science Prize {{small|(2006)}}
Gairdner Foundation International Award (2007)
Nobel Prize in Chemistry {{small|(2009)}}

}}

| spouse = Joan A. Steitz

| children = 1

| footnotes =

| website = {{URL|http://steitzlab.yale.edu/}}

}}

Thomas Arthur Steitz (August 23, 1940 – October 9, 2018{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/10/obituaries/thomas-a-steitz-dead.html|title = Thomas A. Steitz, 78, Dies; Illuminated a Building Block of Life|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 10 October 2018|last1 = Kolata|first1 = Gina}}) was an American biochemist, a Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University, and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, best known for his pioneering work on the ribosome.

Steitz was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Ada Yonath "for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome".[http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2009/ 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry], Nobel Foundation. Steitz also won the Gairdner International Award in 2007[http://steitzlab.yale.edu/people/thomas-steitz Thomas Steitz], Thomas Steitz Lab. "for his studies on the structure and function of the ribosome which showed that the peptidyl transferase (EC 2.3.2.12) was an RNA catalyzed reaction, and for revealing the mechanism of inhibition of this function by antibiotics".[http://www.gairdner.org/awards/awardees2/20071998/2007awarde/thomasaste Thomas A. Steitz], The Gairdner 50 Foundation.

Education and career

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Steitz studied chemistry as an undergraduate at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, graduating in 1962. In June 2010, the University renamed its chemistry building Thomas A. Steitz Hall of Science.{{cite web|title=Lawrence To Honor Nobel Prize Winner with Building Renaming Ceremony on Friday |url=http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2010/06/lawrence_to_honor_nobel_prize_.html|publisher=Lawrence University|date=9 June 2010|access-date=12 January 2013}}

He received a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from Harvard University in 1966 where he worked under the direction of subsequent 1976 chemistry Nobel Prize winner William N. Lipscomb, Jr.

While at Harvard, after the training task of determining the structure of the small molecule methyl ethylene phosphate, Steitz made contributions to determining the atomic structures of carboxypeptidase A (EC 3.4.17.1) and aspartate carbamoyltransferase (EC 2.1.3.2), each the largest atomic structure determined in its time.

Steitz did postdoctoral research as a Jane Coffin Childs Postdoctoral Fellow at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology during 1967–1970.

Steitz briefly held an assistant professorship at the University of California, Berkeley, but he resigned on the grounds that the institution would not accept his wife Joan into a faculty position because she was a woman.{{Cite journal|last=Ferry|first=Georgina|date=2018-10-30|title=Thomas A. Steitz (1940–2018)|journal=Nature|language=EN|volume=563|issue=7729|pages=36|doi=10.1038/d41586-018-07187-2|issn=0028-0836|doi-access=free}}

Both Tom and Joan Steitz instead joined the Yale faculty in 1970, where he continued to work on cellular and structural biology. Steitz and Peter Moore determined the atomic structure of the large 50S ribosomal subunit using X-ray crystallography, and published their findings in Science in 2000.{{cite news |title=Yale Researches Solve Structure of the Ribosome; Groundbreaking Achievement 'Like Climbing Mount Everest' |newspaper=YaleNews |date=10 August 2000 |url=http://news.yale.edu/2000/08/10/yale-researchers-solve-structure-ribosome-groundbreaking-achievement-climbing-mount-evere |access-date=17 March 2015}} In 2009, Steitz was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his ribosome research.

He was also a Macy Fellow at the University of Göttingen during 1976–1977 and a Fairchild Scholar at the California Institute of Technology during 1984–1985.

Steitz was also one of the founders of a company, Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, now Melinta Therapeutics for the development of new antibiotics based on the ribosome.

Honors

Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2009)
Elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 2011{{cite web | url = http://royalsociety.org/about-us/fellowship/foreign-members/| title = Foreign Members|publisher= Royal Society|access-date = 2012-03-20}}{{Cite journal|last1=Ramakrishnan|first1=V.|last2=Henderson|first2=Richard|date=2021|title=Thomas Arthur Steitz. 23 August 1940—9 October 2018|journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society|volume=72|pages=311–336 |doi=10.1098/rsbm.2021.0029 |s2cid=244731370 |doi-access=free}}

Private life

He enjoyed skiing, hiking, and gardening.{{cite book|chapter=The Best Job Ever. Reflections On My Time with Tom Steitz, 1985–2018 by Peggy Eatheron|title=Structural Insights Into Gene Expression And Protein Synthesis|series=Series in Structural Biology—Volume 12|year=2020|pages=29–31|location=Singapore|publisher=World Scientific|isbn=9789811215872 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xSn7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA29}}

{{blockquote|It should also be noted that Tom valued a good time. He always looked forward to department happy hours, wine tastings and any other excuse for a party. He hosted many wonderful Halloween parties at his home, always appropriately attire in costume.{{cite book|chapter=The Best Job Ever. Reflections On My Time with Tom Steitz, 1985–2018 by Peggy Eatheron|title=Structural Insights Into Gene Expression And Protein Synthesis|year=2020|pages=29–31|isbn=9789811215872 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xSn7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA31|last1=Steitz |first1=Thomas A. |publisher=World Scientific }} (quote from p. 31)}}

Steitz was married to Joan A. Steitz, a distinguished molecular biologist who is also a Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale. He lived with her in Branford, Connecticut and had one son, Jon, and two grandchildren, Adam and Maddy.{{cite web |url=http://www.miptalk.com/thomas-steitz/ |title=Episode 28 – Thomas Steitz – A Nobel Profession – MIPtalk |access-date=2011-04-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110401101355/http://www.miptalk.com/thomas-steitz/ |archive-date=2011-04-01 }} He died on October 9, 2018, of complications during treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Publications

Steitz, T. A., et al. [https://web.archive.org/web/20040809033742/http://www.nsls.bnl.gov/newsroom/publications/newsletters/2000/00-nov.pdf "Determination of the Atomic-Resolution Crystal Structure of the Large Subunit from the Ribosome of Haloarcula marismortui;"], nsls newsletter, (November 2000).
Steitz, T. A., et al. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721032849/http://www.px.nsls.bnl.gov/2_scihi_feature.pdf "The Atomic Resolution Crystal Structure of the Large Ribosomal Subunit from Haloarcula marismortui"], NSLS Activity Report (2000).

References

{{reflist|2|refs=

Ludwig ML, Hartsuck JA, Steitz TA, Muirhead H, Coppola JC, Reeke GN, Lipscomb WN. The Structure of Carboxypeptidase A, IV. Prelimitary Results at 2.8 A Resolution, and a Substrate Complex at 6 A Resolution. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1967 March; 57(3): 511–514.

Steitz, T. A. and Lipscomb, W. N., "Molecular Structure of Methyl Ethylene Phosphate," J Am. Chem. Soc. 87, 2488 (1965).-->

Steitz TA, Wiley DC, Lipscomb WN. The structure of aspartate transcarbamylase, I. A molecular twofold axis in the complex with cytidine triphosphate. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1967 November; 58(5): 1859–1861.

}}

External links

"[http://www.jsonline.com/features/health/63724227.html Inquisitiveness of Milwaukee native leads to a Nobel Prize]", The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
[http://www.miptalk.com/?p=415 Thomas Steitz – MIPtalk.com interview]
[http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2009/10/lawrence_university_graduate_a.html Lawrence University Graduate Awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry]
{{Nobelprize}}