There is no RationalWiki without you. We are a small non-profit with no staff—we are hundreds of volunteers who document pseudoscience and crankery around the world every day. We will never allow ads because we must remain independent. We cannot rely on big donors with corresponding big agendas. We are not the largest website around, but we believe we play an important role in defending truth and objectivity. |
Fighting pseudoscience isn't free. We are 100% user-supported! Help and donate $5, $10, $20 or whatever you can today with ![]() ![]() |
Ribosome
Live, reproduce, die Biology |
![]() |
Life as we know it |
Divide and multiply |
Great Apes |
“”Ribosomes are little square shaped objects, they hold protein and send it to the nucleus so the cell doesnt blow up :)
|
—Wikipedia vandalism[1] |
A ribosome is an enzyme complex responsible for constructing polypeptides, the constituent molecules of proteins. It is found in all cells. Due to the importance of the ribosome, it is one of the most studied enzymes. A rough structure of the enzyme was obtained in the 1970s, but only recently has technology moved to get a precise crystal structure of the cell. In short: it is essential!