India-born Nobel laureate Professor Venki Ramakrishnan has been awarded the prestigious Order of Merit by Britain’s King Charles III in recognition of his distinguished service to science.
The 70-year-old UK-based molecular biologist is among six appointments made to the historic order by the late Queen Elizabeth II before her death in September and the first to be appointed by Charles.
The Order of Merit is an exclusive mark of honour conferred by the British sovereign. “His Majesty The King has been pleased to make six new appointments to the Order of Merit.
Here’s all you need to know about Venki Ramakrishnan
- Professor Venki was born in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu
- He has worked as a biologist for more than 30 years, with much of his research being focused on central problems in molecular biology.
- A fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Venki Ramakrishnan also studied at Baroda University, Ohio University, and the University of California, San Diego.
- Venki was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2009 alongside Thomas Steitz and Ada Yonath for the high-resolution atomic structure of the ribosome, which opened up new possibilities in the development of antibiotics.
- Venki Ramakrishnan was also granted knighthood “for services to molecular biology” in the New Year Honours List 2012.
- He is also the author of the popular book, Gene Machine, which captures his first-hand account of the discovery.
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In 2017, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.
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He was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2010.