Sidney Altman was a distinguished Canadian-American molecular biologist who served as the Sterling Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and Chemistry at Yale University. Born in Montreal in 1939 to immigrant parents, he initially pursued physics at MIT where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1960 with research supporting the nonconservation of parity. After discovering his passion for molecular biology during a summer course at the University of Colorado, he completed his Ph.D. in biophysics there in 1967 under Leonard Lerman. Altman's early career included research fellowships at Harvard University with Matthew Meselson and at the prestigious Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, where he worked alongside Nobel laureates Francis Crick and Sydney Brenner before joining Yale University as an assistant professor in 1971.
Altman's groundbreaking research revealed that RNA could function as an enzyme, fundamentally challenging the long-held belief that all enzymes were proteins. In the late 1970s, he discovered the catalytic properties of RNase P, a ribonucleoprotein complex involved in tRNA processing, demonstrating that the RNA component alone could catalyze biochemical reactions. His meticulous biochemical and genetic experiments proved that when the RNA subunit was removed from the protein component, the enzyme lost its catalytic function, and remarkably, the RNA alone could perform the same catalytic activity as the intact enzyme. This revolutionary discovery of ribozymes, for which he shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas Cech, transformed our understanding of molecular biology and provided crucial insights into the origins of life, suggesting an RNA world where RNA molecules could both store genetic information and catalyze reactions.
Beyond his Nobel-winning work, Altman's career at Yale encompassed significant administrative leadership, serving as Chairman of his department from 1983 to 1985 and as Dean of Yale College from 1985 to 1989, where he gained a broader perspective on academic life and human challenges within university communities. His research not only reshaped fundamental biological principles but also opened new avenues for therapeutic applications, as ribozymes became potential tools for gene therapy and targeted RNA cleavage. Altman's legacy continues to influence molecular biology, biochemistry, and evolutionary studies, with his work on catalytic RNA providing foundational insights for understanding gene regulation and RNA-based therapeutics. He remained an active and respected figure in the scientific community until his death on April 5, 2022, at the age of 82, leaving behind a profound intellectual legacy that continues to inspire researchers exploring the intricate molecular machinery of life. His contributions remain foundational to modern molecular biology and continue to inform cutting-edge research in gene editing and RNA therapeutics.
