Purdue News

June 30, 2000 Purdue biochemist named Pew Scholar WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University biochemist Barbara Golden is the recipient of a 2000 Pew Scholarship in the Biomedical Sciences. The Pew Charitable Trusts this year awarded 20 scholarships nationwide, and each winner receives $240,000 in research funds over four years. "This is a very significant honor, which is often seen as an early indication that the scholar is on track to become an intellectual leader in the life sciences," says Randy Woodson, Purdue's Director of Agricultural Research Programs. The scientific track Golden pursues is a race to unravel the mysteries of the structure of RNA. For years, RNA has been thought of as a copy of DNA's blueprints for proteins. Those blueprints are made in the nucleus and moved to the cell's protein-manufacturing centers in the ribosomes. Around 1980, however, researchers discovered that RNA does more than act as a blueprint for proteins. It also can start chains of biochemical reactions. "It has become clear in the last dozen years that this catalytic activity of RNA is a very important biochemical mechanism for all of biology," says Mark Hermodson, head of Purdue's Department of Biochemistry. RNA's ability to start chemical reactions depends partly on its three-dimensional shape – something researchers know little about. "Knowledge of RNA structure is crucial to understanding essential biological processes, including viral replication, translational control and ribosome activity," Golden says. "However, we lack the rich database of three-dimensional structures that's available for proteins. This limitation is a whopping blind spot in the field of structural genomics." Golden plans to help eliminate that blind spot. She's trying to figure out the three-dimensional shape of RNA molecules, what causes them to take that shape and how shape makes them active. One of Golden's main tools is X-ray crystallography, a technique that helped researchers determine the structure of DNA. Since 1985, the Pew Charitable Trusts, based in Philadelphia, have provided more than $65 million for the support of 320 scholars in areas that include conservation and the environment, culture, education, health and human services, public policy, and religion. Sources: Randy Woodson, 765-494-8362 Barbara Golden, 765-494-1637, golden@biochem.purdue.edu Writer: Rebecca J. Goetz, 765-494-0461, rjg@aes.purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page