AMERSHAM PHARMACIA BIOTECH & SCIENCE PRIZE:The Rotary Enzyme of the Cell: The Rotation of F1-ATPase

The winner of this year's Amersham Pharmacia Biotech & Science Prize is Hiroyuki Noji, from Japan. In his winning essay , Noji describes his thesis experiments in which he visualized the rotation of the gamma subunit of F1-ATPase by attaching long actin molecules. This result proved that the gamma subunit does indeed rotate within the bearing-like structure created by the alpha and beta subunits. F1-ATPase is a true molecular motor, converting chemical to mechanical energy on a very small scale.