KORNBERG, Roger David (1947 – )

1974 CE

#13948

Chromatin structure: A repeating unit of histones and DNA.

While a postdoctoral fellow working with Aaron Klug and Francis Crick at the MRC in the 1970s, Kornberg discovered the nucleosome as the basic protein complex packaging chromosomal DNA in the nucleus of eukaryotic cel…

1987 CE

#13950

Nucleosomes inhibit the initiation of transcription but allow chain elongation with the displacement of histones.

Within the nucleosome Kornberg found that roughly 200 bp of DNA are wrapped around an octamer of histone proteins. With Yahli Lorch, Kornberg showed that a nucleosome on a promoter prevents the initiation of transcrip…

1990 CE

#13949

A novel mediator between activator proteins and the RNA polymerase II transcription apparatus.

Kornberg discovered that transmission of gene regulatory signals to the RNA polymerase machinery is accomplished by an additional protein complex dubbed the Mediator. As noted by the Nobel Prize committee, "the great …

2000 CE

#13982

Architecture of RNA polymerase II and implications for the transcription mechanism.

Kornberg devoted two decades to the development of methods to visualize the atomic structure of RNA polymerase and its associated protein components. Initially, Kornberg took advantage of expertise with lipid membrane…