Prof. Ada Yonat's speech of thanks as part of the festive event on the evening of the awarding of the prize

"They told me you'll die before you get there" (referring to the discovery of the structure of the ribosome), says Prof. Yonat Levai at the celebratory dinner for the 2009 Nobel Prize winners, on behalf of the three winners of the prize in chemistry

Honorable members of the royal family, distinguished dignitaries, ladies and gentlemen,

A great honor fell to me, the opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to the Nobel Foundation.
I was asked to represent the winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2009. We are three different people in all respects, yet we share a common passion: to understand how the ribosome creates proteins according to the instructions of the genetic code, a subject that many scientists around the world have greatly contributed to understanding.

When I was asked to give a speech by the Royal Swedish Academy, I was advised to benefit from the speech of Yitzhak Bashavis Singer, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978. He began his speech as follows: "People often ask me, 'Why do you write in Yiddish, which is a dead language? ' ".

Indeed, many used words derived from the verb "to die" when I described my plans for determining the structure of the ribosome. Respected scientists said: 'Why are you going to solve the structure of ribosomes, since they are already "dead" and we know everything there is to know about them', or: 'This is a dead end', or: 'You will die before you get there'.

Happily, these predictions were wrong. The ribosomes are alive and kicking (and selfish) and their structures lead to the most advanced research. They also stimulate the imagination of many young people, including my granddaughter Noa who shows a lasting interest, so she invited me at the ages of 5 and 13 to her class to explain what the ribosome is. Also, teenagers in Israel say: "Curly hair (like mine) means a head full of ribosomes." Furthermore, our research has added to the interest of the lovely polar bears, which inspired my research, and are now in danger of extinction due to climate change.

I was also instructed not to see this speech as an opportunity to give thanks. I have always been known to be obedient, so I decided to follow this advice, but with one exception. I would like to warmly thank my dedicated driver, Nisse. Without him I would have been lost in Stockholm, a wonderful, if dark, city, and consequently missed most of the fascinating events of this magical week.

I didn't know there was such a profession as a scientist until I arrived at the Weizmann Institute - an interview with Prof. Yonat for the Science website