Ada Yonath Biography: Education, Age, Discovery, Net Worth, Wikipedia, Parents, Siblings, Children, Nobel Prize

Ada E. Yonath, commonly known as Ada Yonath, is an Israeli crystallographer known for her pioneering research on ribosome structure.

In 2009, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, making history as the first Israeli woman and the first woman from the Middle East to receive this distinction.

As the director of the Kimmelman Center for Biomolecular Structure and Assembly at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Yonath has advanced cryo-crystallography techniques and significantly contributed to the development of antibiotics.

Profile

• Full Name: Ada E. Yonath
• Stage Name: Ada Yonath
• Born: 22, June 1939
• Age: 85 years old
• Birthplace: Geula neighborhood of Jerusalem, Israel
• Nationality: Israeli
• Occupation: Crystallographer and biochemist
• Height: unknown
• Parent: Hillel Lifshitz and Esther Lifshitz
• Siblings: 1
• Spouse: unknown
• Children: Hagit Yonath
• Relationship: Divorced
• Net Worth: $1 million to $5 million

Early Life And Education

Ada E. Yonath was born on June 22, 1939, in the Geula neighborhood of Jerusalem, Israel, to Hillel and Esther Lifshitz. She grew up with her younger sister in a modest family, and after her father passed away when she was 11, the family relocated to Tel Aviv in search of better opportunities and support.

For her education, Yonath studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1962, followed by a master’s degree in biochemistry in 1964.

She later completed her Ph.D. in X-ray crystallography at the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1968, laying the foundation for her groundbreaking scientific career. She is of Jewish ethnicity, and was raised in an Orthodox Jewish household.

Career

Ada E. Yonath is a distinguished Israeli crystallographer known for her pioneering research on ribosome structure. After earning her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from the Hebrew University and a Ph.D. from the Weizmann Institute of Science, she completed postdoctoral studies at Carnegie Mellon University and MIT.

In 1970, Yonath established Israel’s first protein crystallography laboratory, where she focused on the complex process of protein biosynthesis, despite facing skepticism from the scientific community.

Throughout her career, Yonath made significant advancements in understanding ribosomal architecture, culminating in the determination of the three-dimensional structure of ribosomal subunits in 2000.

Her innovative techniques, including cryo-bio-crystallography, became standard methods in structural biology. Yonath’s research revealed how antibiotics interact with bacterial ribosomes, providing insights into antibiotic resistance mechanisms and paving the way for drug development.

In 2009, Yonath was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry alongside Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Thomas A. Steitz for her contributions to ribosome research, marking her as the first Israeli woman and first woman from the Middle East to receive this honor.

Currently, she serves as the director of the Kimmelman Center for Biomolecular Structure and Assembly at the Weizmann Institute, continuing to explore fundamental questions about ribosomes and their role in life processes.

Social Media

Instagram handle: @whatisbiotechnology

Personal Life

Ada Yonath has one daughter, Hagit Yonath, who works as a doctor at Sheba Medical Center, and a granddaughter named Noa. While details about her spouse or romantic relationships remain largely private, it is known that Yonath was previously married but later divorced.

She has occasionally reflected on her personal life, sharing that she once hoped for a larger family but faced certain challenges that ultimately limited her to having one child.

Net Worth

Ada Yonath’s net worth is estimated to fall between $1 million and $5 million. Although exact financial details are not publicly disclosed, this estimate reflects her distinguished career as a renowned scientist and Nobel Prize-winning chemist.