Why We Die

Join us to celebrate Venki Ramakrishnan, Nobel Prize-winning biologist and author of Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality. Ramakrishnan and his co-laureates won the Nobel for determining the atomic structure of the ribosome, which is the molecular machine responsible for translating genetic information into proteins. Their discovery has had a profound impact on molecular biology and medicine, particularly in the design of antibiotics that selectively target bacterial ribosomes while leaving human ribosomes unharmed.

In conversation with Director of Sciences Janna Levin, Ramakrishnan will delve into the biological mechanisms that initiate the process of dying and the ethical and societal questions surrounding the pursuit of immortality.

Books will be available for purchase and a book signing will follow the conversation. Stay and join us in the garden for stargazing with the Amateur Astronomers Association.

About the speakers

Venkatraman (“Venki”) Ramakrishnan

Venki Ramakrishnan is a British-American structural biologist renowned for his groundbreaking work on the ribosome. He earned his Ph.D. in physics from Ohio University in 1976 before transitioning to biology. In 2009, Ramakrishnan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, alongside Thomas A. Steitz and Ada Yonath, for their studies on the structure and function of the ribosome. Since 1999, he has been a group leader at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK, and served as President of the Royal Society from 2015 to 2020. In recognition of his contributions to science, he was knighted in 2012 and appointed to the Order of Merit in 2022. Beyond his research, Ramakrishnan is an advocate for science communication and has authored books such as Gene Machine: The Race to Decipher the Secrets of the Ribosome and Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality.

Janna Levin

Janna Levin is the founding director of sciences at Pioneer Works and the co-editor-in-chief of Pioneer Works Broadcast. She is a professor of physics and astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University. A Guggenheim Fellow, Janna has contributed to an understanding of black holes and cosmology. She is the presenter of the NOVA feature Black Hole Apocalypse, aired on PBS. She is the author of four books, one of which won a PEN prize for a first work of fiction. Her most recent book is Black Hole Survival Guide.

This program is supported by the Simons Foundation's Science, Society and Culture division, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology, bridging the two cultures of science and the arts.