Ronald Breaker

Ronald R. Breaker (born 1964) is an American biochemist who is a Sterling Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at Yale University. He is best known for the discovery of riboswitches. His current research is focused on understanding advanced functions of nucleic acids, including the discovery and analysis of riboswitches and ribozymes. [2]

Ronald R. Breaker
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, Purdue University, Scripps Research Institute
Known forRiboswitches, Ribozymes, Deoxyribozymes
AwardsBeckman Young Investigators Award[1]
Scientific career
FieldsBiochemistry, Molecular Biology
InstitutionsYale University
Doctoral advisorPeter T. Gilham
Other academic advisorsGerald Joyce

Research

Ronald earned his B.S. in biology and chemistry from the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Purdue University with Peter T Gilham. He was a postdoctoral fellow at The Scripps Research Institute with Gerald Joyce. While at Scripps, he isolated the first DNA enzyme (deoxyribozyme).[3] He joined the molecular, cellular, and developmental biology department at Yale University. His research group worked on in vitro engineered riboswitches, RNA biosensors, and began to look for riboswitches in nature and identified the Cobalamin riboswitch.[2][4] Over the next decade, the group would perform pivotal work establishing the role of ligand-binding RNAs and resulted in the discovery of multiple classes of riboswitches.[5][6]

He has been a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator since 2005.[7] Breaker is a member of the JASON defense advisory group, and was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2013.[8]

Awards

References
  1. "Ronald Breaker". Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  2. Yarnell, Amanda (23 March 2004). "C&EN: AHA! MOMENTS - RONALD R. BREAKER". pubsapp.acs.org. C&EN. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  3. Breaker, RR; Joyce, GF (December 1994). "A DNA enzyme that cleaves RNA". Chemistry & Biology. 1 (4): 223–9. doi:10.1016/1074-5521(94)90014-0. PMID 9383394.
  4. Nahvi, A; Sudarsan, N; Ebert, MS; Zou, X; Brown, KL; Breaker, RR (September 2002). "Genetic control by a metabolite binding mRNA". Chemistry & Biology. 9 (9): 1043. doi:10.1016/s1074-5521(02)00224-7. PMID 12323379.
  5. Parker, Nicole (1 March 2016). "Breaker 'vastly expanded our appreciation of the versatility of noncoding RNAs in biology'". www.asbmb.org. ASBMB. ASBMB.
  6. Stone, Melissa (25 February 2010). "Riboswitches: A Molecular Archeological Discovery – Yale Scientific Magazine". www.yalescientific.org. yale scientific.
  7. "Ronald R. Breaker". HHMI. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  8. "Ronald Breaker, Ph.D."
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