Ada Yonath

I was born in Jerusalem with a religious background and a rabbi as a father... it was rather poor, but what we did have, we did have books.

DNA is a code of four letters; proteins are made up of amino acids which come in 20 forms. So the ribosome is a very clever machine that reads one language and operates in another.

People always talk about the implication and applications of a process, but for me, the goal is purely about knowledge. Knowledge can become practical today, in 20 years, or in 500 years. Ask Newton. He didn't know there would be space research based on his accident with the apple.

I was described as a dreamer, a fantasist, even as the village idiot. I didn't care. What I cared about was convincing people to allow me to go on with my work.

I don't distinguish between men and women. This is irrelevant to me, and I don't think in these terms.

Even if I tried to fill up the stadium in Ramat Gan, I don't think I could.

Anyone who sits in our jails who is not just a criminal but what we call a terrorist, with or without blood on his hands - and these definitions are also unclear to me - should not be sitting in our custody.

People are obsessed with my haircut; everyone wants to do something with my hair before the ceremony. Very senior figures tell me their hairstylist wants to do my hair for free. It's surprising. People from television are interested almost exclusively in aspects of my hair and my hairdresser.

I'm truly glad I've managed to get the public interested in questions about basic research.

I'm always having to get rid of reporters.

During my time I had some very difficult years, and I had very pronounced competition, all by men.

The world was not supportive. They look at me as a joke for 13 to 14 years until I could prove feasibility; then I had competitors. Those that laughed at me became my competitors.

For quite a while, I didn't receive a higher academic status. I didn't feel any discrimination against me as a woman scientist, but I hadn't produced a lot of science journal articles.

The Weizmann Institute showed me respect and didn't require many administrative tasks, so I was quite independent. I did what I wanted.

My kindergarten teacher encouraged me to learn, as did my school headmaster, who gave me a grant to study.

Once, when I tried to calculate the height of the balcony, I broke my arm. Another time, I wanted to see if water moves faster than kerosene. When my father came out to smoke, a fire broke out.

My neighborhood didn't really encourage women, though it didn't prevent women from progressing, either.

I am against boycotts in general: boycotts against us as well as anything and everything that can be boycotted.

Problems should be solved by talking and not in an aggressive manner.

I used ribosomes from very, very robust bacteria under very, very active conditions and found a way - I actually took advantage of research done before me at the Weizmann, the same institute I am now - how to preserve their activity and their integrity while they crystallized.

My parents were Zionists born in Poland. My father was a rabbi who didn't know much about science and ran a grocery store in the neighborhood with my mother's help.

Waiting for me in Stockholm will be a personal assistant - Katrina from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs - as well the secretary of the Swedish Academy. They'll help us with our things and take us to our hotel. From the moment I arrive, I'll always be together with the other two laureates.

If one has curiosity, then one stands the chance of attain a high level of scientific inquiry.

I was born in Jerusalem in 1939 to a poor family that shared a rented four-room apartment with two additional families and their children.

When a man sits in our jails for a number of years, and around him friends and family become angry, that is how we create terrorists.