About

Roger D. Kornberg, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (2006), is a celebrated figure in the scientific community, best known for his groundbreaking work on the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, into a family deeply rooted in biochemistry—his father, Arthur Kornberg, also won a Nobel Prize—Roger has continued this legacy with his own significant contributions to the field.

Kornberg’s journey in the sciences began with his education at Harvard University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1967. He furthered his studies at Stanford University, obtaining a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry in 1972. His postdoctoral research took him to the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, and later to Harvard Medical School as an Assistant Professor of Biological Chemistry. In 1978, he joined Stanford Medical School as a Professor of Structural Biology, a position he still holds today.

His research has been pivotal in understanding the process of DNA transcription. He identified the role of RNA polymerase II and other proteins in this process and used X-ray crystallography to create three-dimensional images of these protein clusters. His discoveries extend to the “flip-flop” and lateral diffusion of phospholipids in bilayer membranes and the nucleosome’s role as a basic protein complex packaging chromosomal DNA in eukaryotic cells. Kornberg’s work with the nucleosome illuminated its function as a general gene repressor and its regulatory role in transcription.

Moreover, Kornberg’s lab at Stanford succeeded in developing a transcription system from baker’s yeast, which helped isolate the proteins required for the transcription process. His discovery of the Mediator complex was a milestone in understanding the transcription process in eukaryotic organisms.