Howard Hughes Medical Institute names 3 new Caltech investigators

In work that overturned the steadfast notion that genes and networks of genes operate in a predictable and fixed fashion, he and his colleagues showed that key properties of the cell--like how actively it turns out different proteins--are intrinsically random. To show that randomness is used to more accurately control the shapes and patterns that make organisms work, Elowitz is turning to larger and more complex animal cells. "I'm grateful to HHMI for the amazing opportunity this appointment presents to focus as much as possible on research. The funds will enable us to explore new directions, especially allowing us to expand approaches we've previously developed primarily in bacteria to mammalian cells."

Assistant Professor of Biology Grant Jensen combines emerging electron microscope technologies with biology to image biological structures that could, until recently, only be imagined. One example of such a structure is the motor that drives the flagella of spirochete bacteria. Jensen has also shown key structures of proteins in HIV and has demonstrated that, contrary to long-held convictions, bacteria have a cytoskeleton.

Going beyond the static images, Jensen has created animations for biological processes. Applying the same technology used in movies, he showed the process of HIV maturation and bacterial motility. "It has been exciting to begin thinking of the additional research we will now be able to do," says Jensen of the award. "We're going to move more quickly now into complementing our current electron microscopical methods with light microscopy, and also begin modeling our hypotheses computationally."

The selection of Chan, Elowitz, and Jensen brings to 10 the total number of HHMI investigators at Caltech, eight of whom are among the 36 total faculty of the Division of Biology. The HHMI promotes its principle of "people, not projects" by appointing scientists as investigators, rather than awarding research grants. Investigators are urged to take risks, to explore unproven avenues, and to embrace the unknown, even if it means uncertainty or the chance of failure.

A nonprofit medical research organization, HHMI was established in 1953 by the aviator-industrialist Howard Hughes. The institute, headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, is one of the largest philanthropies in the world, with an endowment of $18.3 billion at the close of the 2007 fiscal year. HHMI spent $599 million in support of biomedical research and $86 million for support of a variety of grants programs in fiscal year 2007.

For more information on HHMI and this year's investigator's, please visit: http://www.hhmi.org/news/20080527.html