Sidney Altman

Sidney Altman
Altman in 2011
Born	(1939-05-07)May 7, 1939 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Died	April 5, 2022(2022-04-05) (aged 82) Rockleigh, New Jersey, U.S.
Nationality	Canadian, American (since 1984)
Alma mater	MIT, University of Colorado at Boulder, Columbia University, Arizona State University
Known for	Ribozymes
Spouse	Ann Korner ​ ​ (m. 1972; div. 2018)​
Children	2
Awards	Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1989) Lomonosov Gold Medal (2016) Rosenstiel Award (1988)
Scientific career
Fields	Molecular biology
Institutions	Yale University Cambridge University Harvard University MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Thesis	Bacteriophage T4 DNA replication in the absence and presence of 9-aminoacrine (1967)
Doctoral advisor	Leonard Lerman
Doctoral students	Benjamin C. Stark, Robin Reed

Sidney Altman (May 7, 1939 – April 5, 2022) was a Canadian-American molecular biologist, who was the Sterling Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and Chemistry at Yale University. In 1989, he shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas R. Cech for their work on the catalytic properties of RNA.

Family and education

Altman was born on May 7, 1939, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Sidney Altman was later to look back on his parents' lives as an illustration of the value of the work ethic: "It was from them I learned that hard work in stable surroundings could yield rewards, even if only in infinitesimally small increments."

As Altman reached adulthood, the family's financial situation had become secure enough that he was able to pursue a college education. He went to the United States to study physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While at MIT, he was a member of the ice hockey team. After achieving his bachelor's degree from MIT in 1960, Altman spent 18 months as a graduate student in physics at Columbia University. Due to personal concerns and the lack of opportunity for beginning graduate students to participate in laboratory work, he left the program without completing the degree. Some months later, he enrolled as a graduate student in biophysics at the University of Colorado Medical Center. His project was a study of the effects of acridines on the replication of bacteriophage T4 DNA. He received his Ph.D. in biophysics from the University of Colorado in 1967 with thesis advisor Leonard Lerman; Lerman went in 1967 to Vanderbilt University, where Altman worked briefly as a researcher in molecular biology before leaving for Harvard.

Altman was married to Ann M. Körner (daughter of Stephan Körner) in 1972. They are the parents of two children, Daniel and Leah. Having lived primarily in the United States since departing Montreal to attend MIT in 1958, Altman became a U.S. citizen in 1984, maintaining dual citizenship as a Canadian citizen as well.

Career

After receiving his Ph.D., Altman embarked upon the first of two research fellowships. He joined Matthew Meselson's laboratory at Harvard University to study a DNA endonuclease involved in the replication and recombination of T4 DNA. Later, at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, Altman started the work that led to the discovery of RNase P and the enzymatic properties of the RNA subunit of that ribozyme. John D. Smith, as well as several postdoctoral colleagues, provided Altman with very good advice that enabled him to test his ideas. "The discovery of the first radiochemically pure precursor to a tRNA molecule enabled me to get a job as an assistant professor at Yale University in 1971, a difficult time to get any job at all".

Altman's career at Yale followed a standard academic pattern with promotion through the ranks until he became Professor in 1980. He was Chairman of his department from 1983 to 1985 and in 1985 became the Dean of Yale College for four years. On July 1, 1989, he returned to the post of Professor on a full-time basis. His doctoral students include Ben Stark.

While at Yale, Altman's Nobel Prize work came with the analysis of the catalytic properties of the ribozyme RNase P, a ribonucleoprotein particle consisting of both a structural RNA molecule and one (in prokaryotes) or more (in eukaryotes) proteins. Originally, it was believed that, in the bacterial RNase P complex, the protein subunit was responsible for the catalytic activity of the complex, which is involved in the maturation of tRNAs. During experiments in which the complex was reconstituted in test tubes, Altman and his group discovered that the RNA component, in isolation, was sufficient for the observed catalytic activity of the enzyme, indicating that the RNA itself had catalytic properties, which was the discovery that earned him the Nobel Prize. Although the RNase P complex also exists in eukaryotic organisms, his later work revealed that in those organisms, the protein subunits of the complex are essential to the catalytic activity, in contrast to the bacterial RNase P.

Recognition

Altman was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1988 and a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society in 1990.

Death

Altman died on April 5, 2022, in Rockleigh, New Jersey, after a long illness.

Bibliography

• Altman, Sidney (2007). "A view of RNase P.". Mol Biosyst (published September 2007). 3 (9): 604–7. doi:10.1039/b707850c. PMID 17700860.
• Altman, S; Baer, M F; Bartkiewicz, M; Gold, H; Guerrier-Takada, C; Kirsebom, LA; Lumelsky, N; Peck, K (1989). "Catalysis by the RNA subunit of RNase P—a minireview". Gene (published October 15, 1989). 82 (1): 63–4. doi:10.1016/0378-1119(89)90030-9. PMID 2479591.

See also

• History of RNA biology
• List of RNA biologists
• List of Jewish Nobel laureates

External links

• Sidney Altman Nobel Lecture: Enzymatic Cleavage of RNA by RNA
• Altman S Author Profile Page on Pubget
• Sidney Altman U.C. Berkeley Conversations with History University of California at Berkeley Interview
• Sidney Altman Papers (MS 1680). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.