Joachim Frank, A Nobel Prize for Chemistry

The Scientistt Podcast

A Nobel Prize. Some would say it represents the pinnacle of scientific achievement in any given field. In this episode, we're lucky enough to be joined by Joachim Frank, one of a very small number of scientists that can say they have won the prestigious award.

Joachim was born and educated in Germany, before completing postdoctoral research in the United States and at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, U.K., where he worked on problems of electron optics and image processing. His current position at Columbia University as a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and of Biological Sciences, is one that he has held since 2008.

In 2017, Joachim recieved the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, alongside his colleagues Jacques Dubochet and Richard Henderson, for the development of cryo-electron microscopy, which both simplifies and improves the imaging of biomolecules. This method moved biochemistry into a new era.

Timestamps

00:15 - Who is Joachim Frank?

01:05 - Initial interested in science?

04:34 - A degree in Physics?

06:25 - How do you stumble upon Nobel Prize winning research?

07:30 - The seeds & The process.

16:48 - What are the implications of the work?

21:55 - Receiving a Nobel Prize.

22:48 - Does the prize open doors?

27:35 - Advice for PhD students?

29:50 - What is your favourite book?