CHEMIST

Thomas Cech

1947 - Today

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Thomas Robert Cech (born 8 December 1947) is an American chemist who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Sidney Altman for their discovery of the catalytic properties of RNA. Cech discovered that RNA could itself cut strands of RNA, suggesting that life might have started as RNA. He found that RNA can not only transmit instructions, but can act as a catalyst to speed up the necessary reactions. He has also studied telomeres, and his lab discovered an enzyme, TERT (telomerase reverse transcriptase), which is part of the process of restoring telomeres after they are shortened during cell division. As president of Howard Hughes Medical Institute (2000-2008) he promoted science education, and he teaches an undergraduate chemistry course at the University of Colorado. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Thomas Cech is the 302nd most popular chemist (up from 309th in 2019), the 2,068th most popular biography from United States (up from 2,126th in 2019) and the 67th most popular American Chemist.

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Among CHEMISTS

Among chemists, Thomas Cech ranks 302 out of 602. Before him are Bernard Courtois, Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, Carl Gustaf Mosander, Christian Friedrich Schönbein, Alexander Mikhaylovich Zaytsev, and Rasmus Bartholin. After him are Germain Henri Hess, Antoine Baumé, Alexandre Brongniart, Kaoru Ishikawa, Kamala Sohonie, and Franz-Joseph Müller von Reichenstein.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1947, Thomas Cech ranks 132. Before him are Mumtaz, Wes Studi, Wilton Daniel Gregory, Joe Mantegna, Cozy Powell, and Haji Mohammad Chamkani. After him are Margaret Chan, Gérard Houllier, Richard Jenkins, Jerzy Stuhr, Viktor Suvorov, and Branko Oblak.

Others Born in 1947

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Thomas Cech ranks 2,068 out of 20,380. Before him are Paul Krugman (1953), Frederick Herzberg (1923), Hiram Bingham III (1875), Poul Anderson (1926), Carl Reiner (1922), and Phil Knight (1938). After him are James Irwin (1930), Lou Ferrigno (1951), Katherine MacGregor (1925), Max Wright (1943), Pat Garrett (1850), and Matthew Broderick (1962).

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Among CHEMISTS In United States

Among chemists born in United States, Thomas Cech ranks 67. Before him are Stephanie Kwolek (1923), Martin Rodbell (1925), Dudley R. Herschbach (1932), Edwin G. Krebs (1918), Elias James Corey (1928), and Joseph L. Goldstein (1940). After him are Roger Y. Tsien (1952), Roderick MacKinnon (1956), Frances Arnold (1956), Louis E. Brus (1943), Alexander Shulgin (1925), and Alice Ball (1892).

American born Chemists

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