Ignasi Fita, a scientist with the Structural and Computational Biology Programme at IRB Barcelona and CSIC researcher, will participate in the conference series "The 2009 Nobel Prizes", organized by the Catalan Academy of Sciences (IEC). The series invites local scientific experts to discuss the discoveries that have led to the awards of the acclaimed prize by the Nobel Academy in Sweden.

Ignasi Fita, principal investigator of Macromolecular Aggregates group, will explain the advances that led to the discovery of the structure of the ribosome and its functions at atomic level by researchers Ventkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas A. Steitz, and Ada E. Yonath, this year's recipients of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Ribosomes take part in one of life's key processes, namely the translation of DNA information into life. Ribosomes produce proteins, which in turn control the chemistry of all living organisms. As ribosomes are crucial to life, they are also a major target for new antibiotics.

Ignasi Fita will give his talk on Wednesday, December 16 at 7 pm, at the Institut d'Estudis Catalans in Barcelona. The conference series is open to the general public and is free of charge.

"The 2009 Nobel Prizes" conference series
Conference title: La carrera hacia la estructura atómica del ribosoma (in Catalan)
Speaker: Ignasi Fita (IRB Barcelona – IBMB/CSIC)
** Date : Wed. December 16, 2009
Time: 19.00h
Place: Institut d’Estudis Catalans (c/ del Carme, 47, Barcelona)

**and Wed. January 13, in the Centre de Cultura Contemporànea (Edifici Octubre, c/ de Sant Ferran, 12, in Valencia)