Life Sciences, Nobel Prize, startups

Rib-X Founder Gets Nobel Prize

Ryan McBride 10/7/09

Thomas Steitz, a Yale University chemist and co-founder of New Haven, CT-based Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, has won the 2009 Nobel Prize in chemistry along with two other researchers for their use of X-ray crystallography to map the structure of ribosomes, according to the company. Rib-X says it has applied Steitz’s research in this area and computer modeling to design drugs to treat antibiotic-resistant infections. Steitz heads the scientific advisory board at Rib-X. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, a UK-based scientist who is sharing the Nobel Prize with Steitz, is also one of Rib-X’s scientific advisors.

Ryan McBride is Xconomy's correspondent. You can reach him at rmcbride@xconomy.com, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Ryan_McBride.