
Why do we die, and what happens to our biologies when we do? PW’s Founding Director of Sciences Janna Levin hosted Nobel laureate Venki Ramakrishnan to find out. He’s the author of Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality, and won the Nobel with his co-laureates for determining the atomic structure of the ribosome, a molecular machine that synthesizes proteins in all living cells. Their discovery has had a profound impact on molecular biology and medicine.
Together, Ramakrishnan and Levin discuss the biological mechanisms that initiate the process of dying and the ethical and social questions surrounding the pursuit of immortality.
This project is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology, bridging the two cultures of science and the arts.
Subscribe to Pioneer Works: @pioneerworksvideo
Read more on the Pioneer Works Broadcast: