Dr. Roger Kornberg stands as a preeminent figure in structural biology, currently holding the distinguished position of Mrs. George A. Winzer Professor of Medicine in the Department of Structural Biology at Stanford University School of Medicine. A graduate of Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in chemistry, he completed his doctoral studies in chemical physics at Stanford under the guidance of Harden McConnell, where he first discovered phospholipid flip-flop and lateral diffusion in membranes. Following postdoctoral research at the prestigious Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, he joined Harvard Medical School as an assistant professor before establishing his enduring legacy at Stanford in 1978, where he has remained for his entire scientific career. His leadership extended to serving as chair of the Department of Structural Biology from 1984 to 1992, during which he shaped the department into a world-class center for molecular research.
Dr. Kornberg's Nobel Prize-winning research fundamentally elucidated the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription, the critical process by which genetic information flows from DNA to RNA. His laboratory achieved the groundbreaking discovery of the Mediator complex, recognized as the central processing unit of gene regulation that transduces regulatory signals to the transcription machinery. Through innovative structural approaches, his team successfully determined the atomic-resolution structure of RNA polymerase II actively engaged in transcription, capturing for the first time the precise molecular configuration of DNA, polymerase, and RNA during this essential biological process. These transformative discoveries, which earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2006, provided the first comprehensive visualization of transcription in action and revolutionized our understanding of gene regulation at the molecular level.
Beyond his Nobel-recognized work, Dr. Kornberg continues to advance the frontiers of transcription research through his ongoing efforts to determine the structure of the entire transcription apparatus at atomic resolution and to elucidate the mechanisms of transcription control within living cells. His laboratory remains at the forefront of structural biology, recently discovering human homologs of the yeast Mediator complex and elucidating the structural basis of chromatin remodeling. As a mentor to generations of scientists and through his influential editorial role as editor of the Annual Review of Biochemistry from 2004 to 2025, he has profoundly shaped the field of molecular biology. Dr. Kornberg's work continues to illuminate the fundamental mechanisms of gene expression, with profound implications for understanding and potentially treating diseases where transcription goes awry, including numerous cancer malignancies.
