NYS Writers Institute: A conversation with Nobel Prize winner Thomas Cech

Join us for a conversation with Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Thomas Cech

Cech, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1989 for his pioneering work on the properties of RNA, is the author of the new book The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life's Deepest Secrets (2024), one of Lit Hub’s “Most Anticipated Books of the Year.”
For over half a century, DNA has dominated science and the popular imagination as the “secret of life.” But over the last several decades, a quiet revolution has taken place.
In a series of breathtaking discoveries, Cech and a diverse cast of brilliant scientists have revealed that RNA ― long overlooked as the passive servant of DNA―sits at the center of biology’s greatest mysteries: How did life begin? What makes us human? Why do we get sick and grow old?
In The Catalyst, Cech finally brings together years of research to demonstrate that RNA is the true key to understanding life on Earth, from its very origins to our future in the twenty-first century.
A gripping journey of discovery, The Catalyst moves from the early experiments that first hinted at RNA’s spectacular powers, to Cech’s own paradigm-shifting finding that it can catalyze cellular reactions, to the cutting-edge biotechnologies poised to reshape our health.
We learn how RNA―once thought merely to transmit DNA’s genetic instructions to the cell’s protein-making machinery―may have jump-started life itself, and how, at the same time, it can cut our individual lives short through viral diseases and cancer. We see how RNA is implicated in the aging process and explore the darker depths of the supposed fountain of youth, telomerase.

And we catch a thrilling glimpse into how RNA-powered therapies―from CRISPR, the revolutionary tool that uses RNA to rewrite the code of life, to the groundbreaking mRNA vaccines that have saved millions during the pandemic, and more―may enable us to improve and even extend life beyond nature’s current limits.
Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Thomas Cech
7:30 p.m. Thursday, October 24
University at Albany
Multi-Purpose Room, Campus Center West
1400 Washington Avenue Albany NY 12222
https://www.nyswritersinstitute.org/thomascech
Free and open to the public
Cosponsored by The RNA Institute at the University at Albany and the Honors College.
Reviews
"Lively and entertaining. . . . In [ ], the machinations of RNA emerge as a core feature of what makes us human. We appear to be at the beginning of a conceptual enlightenment in biology―an ‘age of RNA,’ as Mr. Cech calls it. Biology will never be the same."
― Adrian Woolfson, Wall Street Journal
"Thomas Cech led the way into what will be known as the age of RNA. When others were focused on DNA, Cech probed the mysteries of the then lesser-known, but wondrous molecule that creates the stuff of life and is a key to life’s origins. The Catalyst vividly describes the marvels of RNA and the discoveries―from vaccines to gene-editing tools―that will shape our future. I am so glad Cech wrote this book."
― Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Elon Musk and The Code Breaker
"Nobel laureate Thomas Cech takes us into the world of RNA with a story that’s as enlightening as it is fascinating. It’s a must read for anyone interested in the molecule that has shaped life itself and is driving the future of science and medicine."
― Jennifer Doudna, Nobel laureate, co-inventor of CRISPR gene editing, and founder of the Innovative Genomics Institute