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{{short description|American biochemist|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2012}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name = Thomas Cech
|image = Thomas Robert Cech.jpg
|caption = Cech in 2005
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1947|12|8}}
|birth_place = [[Chicago]], Illinois, US
|death_date =
|death_place =
|field =
|work_institutions = [[University of Colorado at Boulder|University of Colorado]], [[Howard Hughes Medical Institute]]
|education = [[Grinnell College]] {{small|(B.A., 1970)}}<br />[[University of California, Berkeley]] {{small|(Ph.D., 1975)}}
|doctoral_advisor = [[John E. Hearst]]
|thesis_title=Characterization of the most rapidly renaturing sequences in the main band DNA of the mouse (Mus musculus)
|thesis_url=http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/25570309
|thesis_year=1975
|doctoral_students =
|known_for = [[Ribozyme]], [[Telomerase]]
|prizes = {{no wrap|[[Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry]] {{small|(1985)}}<br />[[Newcomb Cleveland Prize]] {{small|(1986)}}<br />[[NAS Award in Molecular Biology]] {{small|(1987)}}<br />[[Rosenstiel Award]] {{small|(1988)}}<br />[[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] {{small|(1989)}}<br />[[National Medal of Science]] {{small|(1995)}}<br />[[Othmer Gold Medal]] {{small|(2007)}} }}
}}

'''Thomas Robert Cech'''{{efn|Pronounced "check"<ref>Source: Cech introducing himself at the beginning of various videos on YouTube.</ref>}} (born 8 December 1947) is an American chemist who shared the 1989 [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] with [[Sidney Altman]] for their discovery of the catalytic properties of [[RNA]].

Cech discovered that RNA could itself [[ribozyme|cut strands of RNA]], suggesting that [[RNA world|life might have started as RNA]].<ref>[https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1989/illpres/ The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1989:] Illustrated Presentation</ref> He found that RNA can not only transmit instructions, but can act as a [[catalyst]] to speed up the necessary reactions.<ref>{{Citation |title=Thomas Cech – Hyde Park Civilizace {{!}} Česká televize |url=https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/10441294653-hyde-park-civilizace/222411058091119/ |access-date=2023-07-13 |language=cs}}</ref>

He has also studied [[telomeres]], and 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.<ref>[http://www.hhmi.org/research/investigators/cech.html Telomeres, Telomerase, and Other Noncoding RNAs], Howard Hughes Medical Institute, July 13, 2010</ref>

As president of [[Howard Hughes Medical Institute]] (2000–2008)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thomas R. Cech, PhD {{!}} Investigator Profile {{!}} 1988-Present |url=https://www.hhmi.org/scientists/thomas-r-cech |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=www.hhmi.org |language=en}}</ref> he promoted science education, and he teaches an undergraduate chemistry course at the [[University of Colorado]].

==Early life and career==
Cech was born to parents of [[Czechs|Czech]] origin (his grandfather was Czech, his other grandparents were first-generation Americans) in [[Chicago]]. He grew up in [[Iowa City, Iowa]]. In junior high school, he knocked on the doors of [[geology]] professors at the [[University of Iowa]], and asked them to discuss [[crystal structures]], [[meteorites]] and [[fossils]].<ref name="nobel-bio">{{cite web |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1989/cech/biographical/ |access-date=2025-04-11
|title=Thomas R. Cech – Biographical |website=Nobelprize.org |date=1989}}
</ref>

A [[National Merit Scholarship Program|National Merit Scholar]], Cech entered [[Grinnell College]] in 1966. There he studied [[Homer]]'s ''[[Odyssey]]'', [[Dante]]'s [[Inferno (Dante)|''Inferno'']], [[constitutional history]] and [[chemistry]]. He married his [[organic chemistry]] lab partner, Carol Lynn Martinson, and graduated with a B.A. in 1970.<ref name="nobel-bio"/>

<!--[[File:Thomas r. cech.jpg|left|thumb|Thomas Cech]]-->
In 1975, Cech completed his PhD in chemistry at the [[University of California, Berkeley]] and in the same year, he entered the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] where he engaged in postdoctoral research.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Professor THOMAS ROBERT CECH |url=https://cuni.cz/UK-1138.html |access-date=2023-10-02 |website=Univerzita Karlova |language=}}</ref> In 1978, he obtained his first faculty position at the [[University of Colorado at Boulder|University of Colorado]] where he lectured undergraduate students in chemistry and [[biochemistry]], and where he remains on the faculty, currently as distinguished professor in the department of biochemistry. In 2000, Cech succeeded [[Purnell Choppin]] as president of the [[Howard Hughes Medical Institute]] in [[Maryland]]. He also continued to head his biochemistry laboratory at the University of Colorado, Boulder. On April 1, 2008, Cech announced that he would step down as the president of [[HHMI]], to return to teaching and research, in spring 2009.<ref>[http://www.hhmi.org/news/cech20080401.html HHMI News: Thomas R. Cech to Step Down as HHMI President]. Hhmi.org (2008-04-01). Retrieved on 2013-10-22.</ref> Returning to Boulder, Cech became the first executive director of the BioFrontiers Institute, a position he held until 2020. He also taught general chemistry to freshmen.

Cech is the author of ''The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life’s Deepest Secrets'', published in June 2024.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cech |first=Thomas |date=2024-05-29 |title=Opinion {{!}} The Long-Overlooked Molecule That Will Define a Generation of Science |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/29/opinion/dna-rna-modern-science.html |access-date=2024-05-30 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==Research==
Cech's main research area is that of the process of [[Transcription (genetics)|transcription]] in the nucleus of cells. He studies how the [[genetic code]] of [[DNA]] is transcribed into [[RNA]]. In the 1970s, Cech had been studying the [[RNA splicing|splicing]] of RNA in the unicellular organism ''[[Tetrahymena thermophila]]'' when he discovered that an unprocessed RNA molecule could splice itself. In 1982, Cech became the first to show that RNA molecules are not restricted to being passive carriers of genetic information – they can have [[catalytic]] functions and can participate in cellular reactions.<ref name=":0" /> RNA-processing reactions and protein synthesis on [[ribosome]]s in particular are catalysed by RNA. RNA [[enzyme]]s are known as [[ribozymes]] and have provided a new tool for gene technology. They also have the potential to provide new therapeutic agents – for example, they have the ability to destroy and cleave invading, [[Virus rna|viral RNAs]].

Cech's second area of research is on [[telomeres]], the structure that protects the ends of [[chromosomes]]. Telomeres are shortened with every duplication of DNA, and must be lengthened again. He studies [[telomerase]], the enzyme that copies the telomeric sequences and lengthens them.<ref name=":0" /> The active site protein subunits of telomerase comprise a new class of [[reverse transcriptase]]s, enzymes previously thought to be restricted to viruses and [[transposable elements]]. [[Telomerase]] is activated in 90% of human cancers. Therefore, a drug that would inhibit its activity could be useful in treating [[cancer]].

==Awards==
Cech's work has been recognised by many awards and prizes including: lifetime professorship by the [[American Cancer Society]] (1987), the [[Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize]] from [[Columbia University]] (1988), the [[Dr A.H. Heineken Prize|Heineken Prize]] of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences (1988), the [[Lasker Award|Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award]] (1988), the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] (1989, shared with [[Sidney Altman]]), the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]] in 1990<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref> and the [[National Medal of Science]] (1995).<ref>[https://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/recip_details.cfm?recip_id=71 National Science Foundation – The President's National Medal of Science]. Nsf.gov. Retrieved on 2013-10-22.</ref> In 1987, Cech was elected to the [[United States National Academy of Sciences]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Thomas R. Cech|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/15544.html|access-date=2021-10-11|website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref> and in 1988 he was elected to the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Thomas Robert Cech|url=https://www.amacad.org/person/thomas-robert-cech|access-date=2021-10-11|website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences|language=en}}</ref> Cech was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 2001.<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Thomas+R.+Cech&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-10-11|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> In 2003, Cech gave the University of Colorado's [[George Gamow Memorial Lectures|George Gamow Memorial Lecture]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 24, 2003 |title=CU Nobel Laureate Thomas Cech To Give Gamow Lecture April 2 |url=https://www.colorado.edu/today/2003/03/24/cu-nobel-laureate-thomas-cech-give-gamow-lecture-april-2}}</ref> In 2007, he received the [[Othmer Gold Medal]] for outstanding contributions to progress in chemistry and science.<ref name="OthmerMedal">{{cite web|title=Othmer Gold Medal|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/othmer-gold-medal|access-date=22 March 2018|website=Science History Institute|date=2016-05-31}}</ref><ref name=2007PRNewswire>{{cite news|last1=Gussman|first1=Neil|title=Chemical Heritage Foundation to Present 2007 Othmer Gold Medal to Thomas Cech|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chemical-heritage-foundation-to-present-2007-othmer-gold-medal-to-thomas-cech-54533812.html|access-date=12 June 2014|work=PR Newswire|date=7 February 2007}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[History of RNA biology]]
* [[List of RNA biologists]]

==Note==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [[David Oshinsky]], "Vaccines at Warp Speed" (review of [[Thomas R. Cech]], ''The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life's Deepest Secrets'', Norton, 2024, 292 pp.), ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', vol. LXXII, no. 5 (27 March 2025), pp. 48–50. In order to create [[COVID-19]] [[vaccine]]s "[t]here was no need, as with earlier vaccines, to grow, attenuate, and purify large amounts of [[virus]] – in this case [[SARS-CoV-2]] – ... because the vaccine no longer contains it. Instead, synthetic [[mRNA]] instructs the cells to create a harmless fragment of [[SARS-CoV-2]] that will trigger the [[immune system]] to recognize and destroy the virus... [T]he body becomes the factory." (p. 49.) The success of the Covid-19 vaccines "recast the importance of RNA.... [I]t is almost a given, as [the book's author] [[Thomas R. Cech|Cech]] makes clear, that [[RNA]] will power the next generation of [[pharmaceutical]]s, which will move beyond [[infectious disease]]s to those caused by a 'missing or mutated [[protein]],' such as [[muscular dystrophy]], and numerous [[cancer]]s caused by 'normal cellular processes gone awry.'... [The question arises, however:] Will this growing focus on 'disease-driven research' overshadow the more traditional '[[curiosity]]-driven' research so vital to scientific advancement?" (p. 50.)

==External links==
{{commons category|Thomas Robert Cech}}
*[https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/10441294653-hyde-park-civilizace/222411058091119/ Thomas Cech in Hyde Park Civilization on ČT24 26.12.2022 (moderator Daniel Stach)] 
*[https://www.ibiology.org/genetics-and-gene-regulation/discovering-ribozymes/ Tom Cech's Short Talk: "Discovering Ribozymes"]
* [http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/7827/7827scit1.html Chemical and Engineering News]
* {{Nobelprize}}
* [https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1989/illpres/ The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1989:] Illustrated Presentation
* [http://www.hhmi.org/news/prez.html HHMI profile]
* [http://www.hhmi.org/about/cech.html HHMI bio]
* [http://www.hhmi.org/research/investigators/cech_bio.html HHMI Investigators bio]
* [http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/horwitz/ The Official Site of Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize]
{{Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureates 1976-2000}}
{{1989 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{Winners of the National Medal of Science|chemistry}}
{{Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry}}
{{Heineken Prizes}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cech, Thomas}}
[[Category:American people of Czech descent]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:American biochemists]]
[[Category:Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Chemistry]]
[[Category:American Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:National Medal of Science laureates]]
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Grinnell College alumni]]
[[Category:UC Berkeley College of Chemistry alumni]]
[[Category:University of Colorado Boulder faculty]]
[[Category:People from Iowa City, Iowa]]
[[Category:Howard Hughes Medical Investigators]]
[[Category:Winners of the Heineken Prize]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research]]
[[Category:Fellows of the AACR Academy]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Members of the National Academy of Medicine]]