Nobel Laureate Venki Ramakrishnan Returns To UC San Diego To Discuss Memoir

What is being an award-winning scientist really like? How does research actually happen and what’s it like collaborating and competing in the real scientific world?

A new book by Venki Ramakrishnan, who won the 2009 Nobel Prize in chemistry, attempts to answer those questions. "Gene Machine, The Race To Discover The Secrets Of The Ribosome" is a memoir about the complexities of scientific discovery and the choices that define our lives.

Ramakrishnan studied biology at UC San Diego as a graduate student in the 1970s. He said he took undergraduate courses there because it was essential to his learning.

"The idea is, if you want to learn something new, you have to start at the beginning, and I wasn't ashamed to take undergraduate courses."

Ramakrishnan will be speaking about his memoir at UC San Diego Friday at 3 p.m. at the Conrad Prebys Concert Hall.

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