Thomas Cech
The Power List 2020 – Small Molecules
Distinguished Professor at University of Colorado, Boulder
In 1989, Thomas won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with his colleague, Sidney Altman, for their discovery of the catalytic properties of RNA. Thomas is currently an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and also a Distinguished Professor at the University of Colorado and Director of the university’s BioFrontiers Institute. His lab discovered an enzyme, TERT (telomerase reverse transcriptase), which is part of the process of restoring telomeres after they are shortened during cell division.
