HHMI BULLETIN HHMI M AY ’06 VOL .19 • N O . 0 2 • Howard Hughes Medical Institute HHMI BULLETIN • www.hhmi.org Courtesy of Ulrich von Andrian, Katharina Engelke, and Harry Leung Courtesy of Ulrich EVEN STATIC IMAGES OF A MOMENT CAPTURED IN TIME CAN SUGGEST Peering Into a MOVEMENT. IN THIS SECTION THROUGH A BONE MARROW CAVITY IN THE SKULL OF A LIVE MOUSE, RAPID BLOOD FLOW (GREEN) CAN BE SEEN IN THE UPPER PORTION OF THE VESSEL ON THE RIGHT. NUCLEI AND MITO- Skull’s Marrow CHONDRIA, STAINED RED, CAN BE SEEN IN THE BLOOD-FORMING CELLS THAT ADHERE WITHIN THE VESSELS. THE CAVITY IS ENCLOSED IN SOLID BONE, WHICH APPEARS BLACK. The dynamic–and unanticipated–choreographyaction! NONPROFIT ORG. of the immune system US POSTAGE PAID 4000 Jones Bridge Road HYATTSVILLE, MD Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815-6789 PERMIT NO. 61 www.hhmi.org Change Service Requested vol. 19 / no. In this issue: Modern Mitochondria • Archiving • Dancing the Human Genome 02 OBSERVATIONS Answering Socrates Knowing, from a career’s worth of research, how faulty our memories really are, Columbia University neuroscientist Eric R. Kandel saved four decades of written correspondence, personal mementos, the minutes of every Society of Neuroscience annual meeting, and more. The HHMI investigator and Nobel laureate tapped deeply into that lode to write a memoir on his lifelong search for the physical basis of memory. Kandel donated his collected miscellany to 38 the Columbia University library, which APPLE AS METAPHOR will curate his archives. Extolling the singular beauty of every apple, Liz Lerman For biologists working on the brain, the mind Dance Exchange performers loses none of its power or beauty when experi- ponder the potential impact— mental methods are applied to human behavior. good and bad—of genetic Likewise, biologists do not fear that the mind research on our lives. The will be trivialized by a reductionist analysis, production had input from which delineates the component parts and HHMI-supported scientists, activities of the brain. On the contrary, most educators, and students. scientists believe that biological analysis is likely to increase our respect for the power and complexity of the mind. Indeed, by unifying behaviorist and cogni- tive psychology, neural science and molecular biology, the new science of mind can address philosophical questions first raised in Western thought more than twenty-five hundred years ago. Ever since Socrates and the early Platonists speculated about the nature of the human mind, serious thinkers have struggled with certain questions: How does the mind acquire knowledge of the world? How much of the mind is inherited? Do innate mental functions impose on us a fixed way of experiencing the world? What physical changes occur in the brain as we learn and remember? How is an experience lasting minutes converted to a life- long memory? Such questions are no longer the province of speculative metaphysics; they are now fertile areas of experimental research. From the book In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind, by Eric R. Kandel, M.D. ©2006 Eric. R. Kandel. Reprinted here with permission of the publisher, W.W. Norton & Company. Michael Mazzola Illustration: Shonagh Rae vol. 19 / m a y ’0 6 / no. 02 3 38 50 DEPARTMENTS President’s Letter Perspectives and Opinions Chronicle: Lab Book Reshaping the Landscape Liz Lerman, Philip Silverman, From Tree to Harpoon / Hamster Chill and Q&A Time / Shining Light on Vitamin B12 4 44 53 Centrifuge Chronicle: Science Education Chronicle: Ask a Scientist Flying Indoors / Major League Twenty More Renaissance Profs / Is it possible to “steal” the genes of Med Student / Into the Wilds— Undergraduates Abroad / Making It successful performance horses—for and Music Relevant to Human Health / Awards example, by pulling a few hairs—and Bring Science to the Community / create genetic copies through cloning? Gilliam Fellows Reward Determination 8 49 54 Upfront Chronicle: Institute News Chronicle: Nota Bene Where the Antigens Are / Evolution Edward Palmerino Named Vice News of recent awards and other of a Dance / A Few Good Neurons / President for Finance and Treasurer notable achievements Whittling Thousands to a Few Inside Back Cover Observations Answering Socrates FEATURES 16 22 28 33 Lymphocytes, There’s Gold The Powerhouse— Extreme Shopping Camera, Action! in Those Archives and Sentinel—of To design, stock, and staff Digital video vignettes of the Scientists need to store all the Cell the Janelia Farm Research immune system in action are of their data, not just what’s Mitochondria are doing Campus, a handful of creative opening scientists’ eyes. published. more than just keeping the planners are doing some [COVER STORY] cell’s furnace stoked. major procuring. VISIT THE BULLETIN ONLINE FOR ADDITIONAL CONTENT AND RELEVANT LINKS: http://www.hhmi.org/bulletin COVER IMAGE: JONATHON ROSEN contributors president’s letter Reshaping the Landscape Marc Wortman’s career demonstrates the lifelong value of a liberal arts education. Since earning MOTORISTS TRAVELING THIS SPRING THROUGH ASHBURN, a doctorate in comparative literature at Princeton, he gains a fresh education in the biomedical (1) Virginia, on Leesburg Pike might think that construction of sciences each time he writes an article. He is an award-winning freelancer whose work has appeared in many national publications. His book, The Millionaires’ Unit: The Aristocratic Flyboys Who HHMI’s Janelia Farm Research Campus had just commenced, Fought the Great War and Invented American Air Power, appeared in bookstores this month. (1) particularly if they happened to see numerous tractors crawling After earning her doctorate in biochemistry at the University of Washington in Seattle, Rabiya over the landscape moving massive dirt piles. No laboratory Tuma launched a freelance writing career in 2001. Now based in Berkeley, California, she is a building is in plain sight and, after 4 years of furious activity, the regular contributor to the Economist and a corresponding writer for Oncology Times, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, and the Journal of Cell Biology. Her work has also been published (3) (2) most visible changes on the property are four squat, cylindrical in CURE, Discover, O Magazine, SELF, and The New York Times. (2) towers sheathed in corrugated metal. Appearances are deceptive. In fact, Janelia Farm is poised to An award-winning photographer who has covered stories from Iraq to Chiapas to Northern Ireland, Jason Grow has also photographed lots of really smart people in the worlds of finance, begin operation, with the first group of neuroscientists, physicists, “ As in the literal landscape that’s computers, software, medical research, and just about everything in between, for clients as and computer scientists expected to move into their laboratories by diverse as Time, BusinessWeek, Sports Illustrated, and Forbes. A transplant to the East Coast growing up around Janelia Farm, from San Francisco, he now makes his home in Gloucester, Massachusetts, with his wife, Sarah, midsummer. Some will aim to trace neuronal circuits responsible we do believe that the constituent and three daughters, whose surfing skills are quickly surpassing his. Grow is a recently elected (4) for complex behavior while their colleagues invent new micro- City Councilor for Gloucester. (3) scopes for functional imaging to blaze the trail. parts will combine in surprising Karyn Hede is a science writer and editor based in Richland, Washington, who has written on Inside the low-profile, terraced structure that looks out toward ways. topics ranging from the genetics of autism to how the Pacific atolls formed. Her freelance stories have appeared in Scientific American, New Scientist, and MIT’s Technology Review, among oth- the Potomac River, the atmosphere has been anything but calm. THOMAS CECH er publications; she is currently a news correspondent for the Journal of the National Cancer Equipment, laboratory cabinets, and furniture have been pouring in . A recent accomplishment of which she is exceptionally proud is helping to preserve a ” Institute for months, and are being installed by several hundred workmen. local mountain in its natural state. (4) A reshaped landscape is forming around the research building. graduate program with our international partners, the University of More than 100 different types of plants and trees are being put Chicago and the University of Cambridge. in place, drawn from sources around the country and the world. Participation by HHMI’s university-based investigators has HHMI TRUSTEES HHMI OFFICERS They range from Little Bluestem prairie grasses (native to North been—and will continue to be—essential to the success of our fledg- James A. Baker, III, Esq. Thomas R. Cech, Ph.D. / President America) and Dawn Redwood trees (presumed extinct until redis- ling campus. They have worked with Rubin and outside scientists Senior Partner / Baker & Botts Craig A. Alexander / V.P. & General Counsel covered in China) to three century-old spreading yews that once to shape the research program. They have spent countless hours Richard G. Darman Peter J. Bruns, Ph.D. / V.P. for Grants & Special Programs Partner / The Carlyle Group David A. Clayton, Ph.D. / V.P. & Chief Scientific Officer formed part of a maze in the State of Washington. helping review and evaluate candidates. We also expect them to be Chairman of the Board / AES Corp. Joseph D. Collins / V.P. for Information Technology It’s hard to believe that 7 years have passed since David Clayton, among the first—and most enthusiastic—visitors to Janelia Farm Frank William Gay Joan S. Leonard, Esq. / Senior Counsel to the President Gerry Rubin, and I first began discussing a possible new direction this coming fall when we hold a series of scientific meetings at Former President & CEO / SUMMA Corporation Avice A. Meehan / V.P. for Communications & Public Affairs Joseph L. Goldstein, M.D. Edward J. Palmerino / V.P.