Tom Steitz passes away

Very sad news. In addition to the ribosome, Steitz was helped solve the structure of a number of other important biomolecular complexes involved in DNA replication, transcription, and translation (the "central dogma" of biology). His wife, Joan Steitz, was recently awarded the Lasker-Koshland Award for Special Achievement in Medical Science http://www.laskerfoundation.org/awards/show/leadership-rna-biology-and-scientific-mentorship/

I remember reading one memorable paper from his lab in which they solved the structure of fatty acid synthetase (FAS), a large macromolecular complex involved in lipid metabolism. While scientists had been working on solving the structure since the 1970s, (finally achieving a low-resolution crystal structure in 2006), Steitz's group came across the enzyme in an unusual way:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867407003297

While many crystallographers can spend decades trying to get crystals of the protein they are studying, Steitz can get crystals by accident!

 

What we call accident is usually the order of a higher level.