Abstract：The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2006 was awarded to Roger D. Kornberg for his fundamental study of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription. Roger D. Kornberg spent ten years in developing an in vitro yeast transcription system, and depicted pictures of RNA polymerase II and other complexes containing general transcription factors, Mediator, DNA and RNA by combining crystallography with biochemical knowledge. Furthermore, he firstly illustrated the whole process of how transcription works at a molecular level in a eukaryotic cell. Accumulative evidence demonstrates that the study of molecular mechanisms of eukaryotic transcription plays important roles in the treatment of diseases and the regulation of stem-cell development.
2006, Vol. 24 
