Sidney Altman, a biophysicist who discovered RNA’s enzymatic abilities, died on April 5 at the age of 82. His death was announced in a statement from Yale, revealing he had suffered from a long illness.
Altman was born on May 7, 1939, in Montreal, the son of a grocer and a factory worker. Both of his parents prioritized hard work and education for Altman and his older brother, according to his Nobel autobiography. He attended MIT for his undergraduate degree in physics, describing the experience as “four years of over-stimulation among brilliant, arrogant and zany peers and outstanding teachers.” Though his studies were focused on physics, Altman took an elective molecular biology course his senior year, which had a significant effect on his career trajectory. He started graduate school at Columbia University, but after a year and a half of feeling discouraged by his prospects in physics, he completed a ...
