December 8th
- American biochemist and molecular biologist who, with Sidney Altman, was awarded the 1989 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for their discoveries concerning RNA (ribonucleic acid).
- Prior to Cech’s research on RNA, most scientists believed that proteins were the only catalysts in living cells.
- Discoveries by both Cech and Altman overturned the notion that RNA is merely a genetic messenger – an intermediate in the synthesis of proteins from DNA.
