ANNUAL REPORT 1996COLD SPRING HARBORLABORATORY ANNUAL REPORT 1996 © 1997 by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory P.O. Box 100 1 Bungtown Road Cold Spring Harbor, New York 11724 Website: http://www.cshl.org Managing Editor Susan Cooper Editorial staff Dorothy Brown, Annette Kirk Photography Margot Bennett, Ed Campodonico, Bill Dickerson, Marlene Emmons Typography Elaine Gaveglia, Susan Schaefer Cover design Margot Bennett Book design Emily Harste Front cover: Mushroom body neurons in the whole-mount Drosophila brain and the live fly head visualized by enhancer-trap driven expression of green fluorescent protein. These preparations allow electrophysiological and optic imaging analysis of identified neurons in whole brains or live flies. (Nicholas Wright, John Connolly, Tim Tully, Yi Zhong) Back cover: Laboratory's Library (Marlene Emmons) Section title pages: Marlene Emmons, Susan Lauter, Ed Campodonico, Bill Geddes Contents Officers of the Corporation/Board of Trustees v Governance and Major Affiliations and Committeesvi PRESIDENT'S ESSAY 1 DIRECTOR'S REPORT 21 ADMINISTRATION REPORT 52 RESEARCH Tumor Viruses60 Molecular Genetics of Eukaryotic Cells84 Genetics108 Structure and Computation145 Neuroscience170 CSH Laboratory Fellows 196 Author Index206 COLD SPRING HARBOR MEETINGS AND COURSES Academic Affairs 210 Symposium on Quantitative Biology 212 Meetings214 Postgraduate Courses237 Seminars276 Undergraduate Research278 Nature Study280 BANBURY CENTER Director's Report282 Meetings287 DNA LEARNING CENTER 309 COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY PRESS 326 FINANCE Financial Statements 332 Financial Support335 Grants335 Methods of Contributing 343 Capital and Program Contributions 344 Child Care Center Capital Campaign 345 Annual Contributions346 LABORATORY STAFF 356 Standing (from left): L.B. Polsky, J.P. Cleary, W.E. Murray, J.A. Movshon, O.T. Smith, G.R. Fink, J.R. Reese, G. Blobel, E.A.F. Wimmer, J.J. Phelan, Jr. Sitting (from left): T.J. Knight, B. Stillman, M.F. Gerry, M.D. Lindsay, L.N. Grace, D.L. Luke Ill, W.V.P. Russell, C.F. Dolan, J.D. Watson, W.S. Robertson, W.R. Miller, J.A. Steitz Not shown: A.J. Levine, D.C. Wiley, C.T. Caskey, H.A. Dolan, D.H. Koch, E.S. Marks, W.L. Matheson, T.A. Saunders Ill, D.A. Warner III, B. Clarkson, R. Cummings, H.B. Glass, W.H. Page Officers of the Corporation David L. Luke Ill, Chairman James D. Watson, Ph.D., President William R. Miller, Vice Chairman Bruce Stillman, Ph.D., Director John R. Reese, Treasurer G. Morgan Browne, Administrative Director Wendy V.P. Russell, Secretary Board of Trustees Scientific Trustees Gunter Blobel, M.D., Ph.D. Martha Farish Gerry William S. Robertson Rockefeller University Mill Neck, New York Huntington, New York Gerald R. Fink, Ph.D. Lola N. Grace Wendy V.P. Russell Whitehead Institute for Biological Glen Head, New York Oyster Bay, New York Research David H. Koch Thomas A. Saunders III Arnold J. Levine, Ph.D New York, New York Locust Valley, New York Princeton University David L. Luke III Douglas A. Warner III J. Anthony Movshon, Ph.D. New York, New York Locust Valley, New York Howard Hughes Medical Institute New York University Center for Edwin S. Marks James D. Watson, Ph.D. Neural Science Kings Point, New York Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Joan A. Steitz, Ph.D. William L. Matheson Yale University School of Medicine Honorary Trustees Mill Neck, New York Bruce Stillman, Ph.D. Bayard Clarkson, M.D. William R. Miller Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer New York, New York Center, New York, New York Don C. Wiley, Ph.D. William E. Murray Harvard University Robert Cummings New York, New York Glen Head, New York Eckhard A.F. Wimmer, Ph.D. State University of New York, John J. Phelan, Jr. H. Bentley Glass, Ph.D. Stony Brook Mill Neck, New York Boulder, Colorado Whitney D. Pidot Individual Trustees Townsend J. Knight Locust Valley, New York New York, New York C. Thomas Caskey Leon B. Polsky Mary D. Lindsay Lansdale, Pennsylvania New York, New York Laurel Hollow, New York John P. Cleary, Esq. John R. Reese Oyster Bay, New York Walter H. Page Cold Spring Harbor, New York Cold Spring Harbor, New York Helen A. Dolan Oyster Bay, New York Governance and Major Affiliations The Laboratory is governed by a 30-member Board of Trustees which meets three or four times a year. Authority to act for the Board of Trustees between meetings is vested in the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees. The Executive Committee is composed of the Officers of the Board plus any other members who may be elected to the Executive Committee by the Board of Trustees. Additional standing and ad hoc committees are appointed by the Board of Trustees to provide guidance and advice in specific areas of the Laboratory's operations. Representation on the Board of Trustees itself is divided between community representa- tives and scientists from major educational and research institutions. The Laboratory is chartered as an educational and research institution by the Board of Regents of the Education Department of the State of New York. It is designated as a "public charity by the Internal Revenue Service. Committees Audit Development Robertson House Whitney D. Pidot, Chairman Wendy V.P. Russell, Chairman William S. Robertson, Chairman G. Morgan Browne G. Morgan Browne Lola N. Grace John P. Cleary, Esq. Jack Richards Edwin S. Marks Susan Cooper Maude Robertson William L. Matheson Martha F. Gerry Jan Witkowski, Ph.D. John J. Phelan Lola N. Grace Thomas A Saunders Ill Townsend J. Knight Robertson Research Fund Lauri J. Landeau, V.M.D. Banbury Program John R. Reese, Chairman Carol Large G. Morgan Browne Eckard Wimmer, Ph.D., Chairman Mary D. Lindsay David L. Luke Ill Gerald R. Fink, Ph.D. David L. Luke III Bruce Stillman, Ph.D. Martha F. Gerry James D. Watson, Ph.D. James D. Watson, Ph.D. J. Anthony Movshon, Ph.D. Executive Committee Jan A. Witkowski, Ph.D. Family Representatives David L. Luke III, Chairman Katherine Ernst Building G. Morgan Browne John P. Cleary, Esq. Walter Meier, M.D. Helen A. Dolan, Chairman Edwin S. Marks William S. Robertson Arthur Brings William R. Miller Carl Schafer John P. Cleary, Esq. John J. Phelan Martha F. Gerry Whitney D. Pidot Ad Hoc Committee on Mary D. Lindsay John R. Reese Imaging and Neuroscience Jack Richards Wendy V.P. Russell Bruce Stillman, Ph.D., Chairman Wendy V.P. Russell Bruce Stillman, Ph.D. G. Morgan Browne Elizabeth Watson James D. Watson, Ph.D. William Maxwell Cowan, Ph.D David H. Koch Finance and Investment Commercial Relations Edwin S. Marks John R. Reese, Chairman John P. Phelan, Chairman William L. Matheson G. Morgan Browne Gerald R. Fink, Ph.D. William E. Murray William D. Keen Winship Herr, Ph.D. Leon Polsky David H. Koch David H. Koch James D. Watson, Ph.D. David L. Luke Ill David L. Luke Ill Edwin S. Marks John P. Maroney Ex Officio William R. Miller William R. Miller David L. Luke Ill William E. Murray Bruce Stillman, Ph.D. William R. Miller Leon Polsky Douglas A. Warner Ill William S. Robertson Tenure and Appointments Thomas A. Saunders Ill Compensation Gerald R. Fink, Ph.D., Chairman Nominating Gunter Blobel, M.D., Ph.D. David L. Luke Ill, Chairman Arnold Levine, Ph.D. David L. Luke Ill, Chairman William R. Miller Joan A. Steitz, Ph.D. William R. Miller Whitney D. Pidot Bruce Stillman, Ph.D. Whitney D. Pidot John R. Reese Don C. Wiley, Ph.D. John R. Reese Douglas A. Warner Ill James D. Watson, Ph.D. PRESIDENT'S ESSAY GENES and POLITICS The science of Genetics arose to study the transmission of physical characteristics from parents to their offspring. When closely studied, much variation exists for virtually any characteristic, say, in size or color, among the members of all species, be they flies, dogs, or ourselves, the members of the Homo sapiens species. The origin of this variability long fascinated the scientific world, which already inthe 19th century asked how much of this variationis due to environmental causes (nurture) as opposed to innate hereditary factors (nature) that pass unchanged from parents to offspring. That such innate heredity exists could never be realistically debated. One need just look at how characteristics in the shape of the face pass through families. Ascribing, say, the uniqueness of the Windsor face to nurture as opposed to nature goes beyond the realm of credibility. Genes as the Source of Hereditary Variation Both within and between Species The key conceptual breakthrough in understanding the nature component of variation came in the mid 1860s from the experiments of the Austrian monk and plant breeder, Gregor Mendel (1822-1884). In his monastery gardens he created, by self-breeding, strains of peas that bred true for a given character like pea color or pod shape. Then he crossed his inbred strains with each other and observed how the various traits assorted in the progeny pea plants. In his seminal scientific paper, published in 1865, Mendel showed that the origin of this hereditary variability lay in differences in discrete factors (genes) that pass unchanged from one plant generation to another. 1 Most importantly, he showed that each pea has two sets of these factors,one coming from the male parent, the other from the female. Some of those factors are expressed when present in only one copy (dominant genes), whereas others become expressed only whentwo copies, one from each parent, are present (recessive genes). Mendel's results laterwere used by the Danish botanist, Wilhelm Johannsen (1857-1927), to make the important distinction between the physical appearance of an individual (its phenotype) and its genetic composition (genotype). Mere examination of a plant's physical appearance need not reveal its genetic composition.