astronomy

Roman Jerala

Roman Jerala is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Roman Jerala rather than just read about it. In short: Roman Jerala (born 1962) is a Slovenian biochemist and synthetic biologist, internationally best known as the leader of Slovenian teams that won the Grand prize at the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition several times. Life Jerala was born in Jesenice, a town in then People's Republic of Slovenia, FPR Yugoslavia.

Key takeaways

Roman Jerala belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Roman Jerala to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Roman Jerala from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Roman Jerala (born 1962) is a Slovenian biochemist and synthetic biologist, internationally best known as the leader of Slovenian teams that won the Grand prize at the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition several times.

Life Jerala was born in Jesenice, a town in then People's Republic of Slovenia, FPR Yugoslavia. He completed his undergraduate studies and received a PhD at the University of Ljubljana. He was a postdoc at University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA, in academic year 1994/1995. He is now employed at the National Institute of Chemistry in Ljubljana, Slovenia, as the head of its Department of Synthetic Biology and Immunology and a full professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical technology, University of Ljubljana. Since 2009, he is synthetic biology project director at the Centre of Excellence EN-FIST. Jerala was elected a member of the Academia Europaea in 2017, EMBO in 2017 and to the Slovenian Academy of Arts and Sciences SAZU in 2019.

Research In 2013, Nature Chemical Biology published an article about Jerala's achievement that paves a path to designing and producing completely new protein shapes using reprogrammed bacteria by synthesizing protein that folds itself into a tetrahedron — a pyramid with a triangular base measuring just 5 nanometres along each edge - which can be used as container for delivering drugs on the nanoscale. Genetically modified Escherichia coli bacteria were drafted in to synthesize the protein. Dek Woolfson, a biochemist from Centre for Nanoscience and Quantum Information, UK, described this kind of engineering with the following words:

This type of assembly has been achieved before using DNA, but it has always been assumed that it would be much harder to do this with proteins because there is no straightforward code that relates sequence to structure, as there is with DNA. Jerala's team is trying to double the size of the coiled coils in the tetrahedron, and made other shapes, such as prisms and bipyramids.

Awards 1991 Boris Kidrič Slovenian state award for science 2006 Grand Prize for the best project at the iGEM competition at MIT (team leader) 2007 finalist, Gold Medal, Best project in Health and Medicine at the iGEM competition at MIT (team leader) 2007 Prometheus of Science award by the Slovenian Science Foundation 2008 Grand prize winner at iGEM competition at MIT, Gold Medal, Best project in Health and Medicine (team leader) 2009 Pregl award by the National institute of chemistry for outstanding scientific achievements 2009 Zois award for outstanding scientific achievements (the highest national scientific award) 2011 Lapanje Award by the Slovenian Biochemical Society 2010 Grand prize winner at iGEM competition at MIT, Best project in New Application Area, Best Engineered BioBrick (team leader) 2014 Medal for Services awarded by the President of the Republic of Slovenia for scientific and high school education achievements 2015 Elected as a Member of the International Academy of Mathematical Chemistry 2018 ERC Advanced Grant MaCChines 2021 Science Promoter of 2020 by the Slovenian Science Foundation 2021 Nominated among the 10 Slovenian personalities of the year by the national newspaper Delo 2021 Grand Pregl Award by the National institute of Chemistry 2021 Datta prize by the Federation of European BIochemocal Societies FEBS

In media In 2011, Jerala was interviewed in Evening Guest talk show, aired by Slovenian National TV and hosted by Sandi Čolnik, one of the most recognizable Slovenian TV personalities. He has been very active during Covid19 pandemic in media promoting scientific information on the virus and vaccination.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Roman Jerala

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Roman Jerala claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Roman Jerala before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Roman Jerala ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Roman Jerala

In research: Roman Jerala appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Roman Jerala in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Roman Jerala is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1962 births, Academic staff of the University of Ljubljana, Living people, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Roman Jerala outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Roman Jerala in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Roman Jerala means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Roman Jerala out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Roman Jerala in simple terms?

Why does Roman Jerala matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Roman Jerala?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Roman Jerala.