Introduction

Roger David Kornberg (born April 24, 1947) is an American biochemist and professor of structural biology at Stanford University School of Medicine. 

In 2006, Professor Kornberg was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription" which explains the process by which genetic information from DNA is copied to RNA.

This symposium celebrated the honorary fellowship awarded to Professor Kornberg by the RSC.

About the symposium

The symposium took place at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Between 1972 and 1976, Professor Kornberg carried out post-doctoral research at the Laboratory and so this was a fitting venue for such a celebration. 

The half day symposium was a free event and around 190 delegates attended. The afternoon began with lectures by Professor David Lilley (University of Dundee), winner of the 2006 RSC Interdisciplinary Award and Professor Hagan Bayley (University of Oxford). Professor Sir Aaron Klug (MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology) who worked with Professor Kornberg during his time at the Laboratory followed with his lecture before Professor Kornberg gave his own talk. Professor Dave Garner (RSC President) presented Professor Kornberg with his Honorary Fellowship before a drinks reception with all delegates.

Professor Dave Garner presents Professor Kornberg with his RSC Honorary Fellowship

Aims

The symposium aimed to reinforce the importance of chemistry biology interface research, and to discuss the opportunities and challenges for the chemical sciences in understanding molecular individuality and addressing the cause to a range of diseases.