American biochemist and physicist Venkatraman Ramakrishnan described atom-by-atom the structure of ribosomes, mitten-shaped particles comprised of ribonucleic acid (RNA) and proteins found in the cell cytoplasm. He was born in India to parents who were both biochemists, and childhood friends remember him as a "super nerd kid". Ramakrishnan received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2009, sharing the honor with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath. His wife, Vera Rosenberry, is the author and illustrator of the "Vera" series of children's books.

Ramakrishnan was born in 1952, Chidambaram in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu, India to C. V. Ramakrishnan and Rajalakshmi. Both his parents were scientists and taught biochemistry at the Maharaj Sayajirao University in Baroda.

Ramakrishnan is a Fellow of the Royal Society, a member of EMBO and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He was awarded the 2007 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine, the 2008 Heatley Medal of the British Biochemical Society and the 2009 Rolf-Sammet Professorship at the University of Frankfurt. In 2009, Ramakrishnan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada Yonath. He received India's second highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2010.

Career and honors:

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Physicist (1982-83)
Guggenheim Fellowship 1991-92
Datta Medal 2007
Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine 2007
Heatley Medal 2008
Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2009 (with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath)
Royal Society 2003
National Academy of Sciences 2004
Indian Academy of Sciences 2008
European Molecular Biology Organization 2002