Alumni and guests are invited to join the Cambridge Society of Paris for the very first Cambridge Cutting Edge Lecture.

Gene Machine: The race for the structure of the ribosome — a study in the sociology of science by Venki Ramakrishnan, President of the Royal Society and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2009.

Everyone has heard of DNA — the molecule that seems to hold the secrets of all life, but hardly anyone has heard of the ribosome. While DNA is the blueprint for life it rests inertly within our cells. The ribosome is an enormous molecular machine, even more ancient than DNA that translates the information in our genes into proteins. These proteins in turn make up much of our bodies and catalyse thousands of processes within our cells.

In his lecture Venki Ramakrishnan will outline the extraordinary race between groups of scientists around the world to be the first to uncover the structure of this central element of the human body. It is a story of high science, rivalry, generosity and mutual support. In other words it is a story of humanity uncovering one of the secrets of humanity.