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To the memory of David Vazquez
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TO THE MEMORY OF DAVID VAZQUEZ
I)avid V~zquez died February 15, 1986, at the age of 56 years. With him, we lost a pioneer in the field of antibiotics used as a tool in the study of protein synthesis in prokaryotic as well as in eukaryotic systems. The data that he and his co-workers obtained at the Centro de Biologia Molecular in Madrid were of crucial importance for understanding many aspects of ribosome functioning. They helped to define a number of antibiotic interaction sites at the peptidyl transferase center and to understand the structure-function relationships in this important ribosomal domain. He also made significant contributions to the study of the interaction of elongation factors with the ribosome and of the interference of antibiotics in this process. His name is also associated with the first studies on the disassembly and reconstitution of the large ribosomal subunit. Later in his career, he entered the field of fl-lactamic antibiotics. David V~quez had an extraordinary capacity for creating and coaching scientific groups and this activity has had an enormous impact upon the development of modern Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in his country. A long list of young Spanish scientists are indebted to his work and dedication. As important as David V~izquez's scientific achievments was, for all who knew him, his extraordinary human personality. Most of the Workshops and Meetings held throughout the past 20 years in the field of ribosomes and protein synthesis are full of amusing stories having David as the central character. He enjoyed life and many times, many people enjoyed life with him. His scientific and human personality was so appealing that many of his numerous friends enthusiastically accepted the proposal of Biochimie, to dedicate a special issue of the Journal to his memory. May this contribution serve as a sincere hommage to David from so many friends that respected him as a scientist and loved hir~ as a human being. Juan P.G. Ballesta Madrid
Jean-Pierre Ebel strasbourg
TO THE MEMORY OF DAVID VAZQUEZ
I)avid V~zquez died February 15, 1986, at the age of 56 years. With him, we lost a pioneer in the field of antibiotics used as a tool in the study of protein synthesis in prokaryotic as well as in eukaryotic systems. The data that he and his co-workers obtained at the Centro de Biologia Molecular in Madrid were of crucial importance for understanding many aspects of ribosome functioning. They helped to define a number of antibiotic interaction sites at the peptidyl transferase center and to understand the structure-function relationships in this important ribosomal domain. He also made significant contributions to the study of the interaction of elongation factors with the ribosome and of the interference of antibiotics in this process. His name is also associated with the first studies on the disassembly and reconstitution of the large ribosomal subunit. Later in his career, he entered the field of fl-lactamic antibiotics. David V~quez had an extraordinary capacity for creating and coaching scientific groups and this activity has had an enormous impact upon the development of modern Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in his country. A long list of young Spanish scientists are indebted to his work and dedication. As important as David V~izquez's scientific achievments was, for all who knew him, his extraordinary human personality. Most of the Workshops and Meetings held throughout the past 20 years in the field of ribosomes and protein synthesis are full of amusing stories having David as the central character. He enjoyed life and many times, many people enjoyed life with him. His scientific and human personality was so appealing that many of his numerous friends enthusiastically accepted the proposal of Biochimie, to dedicate a special issue of the Journal to his memory. May this contribution serve as a sincere hommage to David from so many friends that respected him as a scientist and loved hir~ as a human being. Juan P.G. Ballesta Madrid
Jean-Pierre Ebel strasbourg