Venkatraman Ramakrishnan

We are all human beings, and our nationality is simply an accident of birth.

I realise I have inadvertently become a source of inspiration and hope for people in India simply by the fact that I grew up there, went to my local university, but could go on to do well internationally.

If you go to a second-rate place, and you are first-rate, it is very difficult to do first-rate work because you do not get that critical feedback you need for first-rate work on a daily basis.

I cannot imagine a more enjoyable place to work than in the Laboratory of Molecular Biology where I work.

It's for scientists to lay out the data and lay out what they think, and then it's for the public to make up its own mind. We don't live in a priesthood where some small group imposes its views on other people - that's not the way that science works, and it's not the way a democratic society should work.

I am very grateful for the dedicated work and intellectual contributions of generations of talented postdocs, students and research assistants without whom none of the work from my laboratory would have been possible.

Nobody has approached me about an offer to work in India. However, I can categorically state that if they did so, I would refuse immediately.

There is no room for political, personal or religious ideologies in science.

We live in an increasingly technological world where the issues are quite complex and based on some complicated science.