Two Ó³»´«Ã½ scientists honored for innovation and youth
Image courtesy of Technology Review magazine Two of the Ó³»´«Ã½'s associate members, Manolis Kellis and Alice Ting, have been recognized for their groundbreaking contributions to science and technology, made at the dawn of their respective careers. MIT's Technology Review magazine named the scientists, along with 33 others, as the top innovators in 2006 under the age of 35. Chosen by the magazine’s editors and a panel of judges from top research universities and technology companies, this year’s "TR35" list features young scientific pioneers from a range of disciplines, including chemistry, computers, communications, electronics, genomics, medicine and nanotechnology. The TR35 awardees were honored at the 2006 Emerging Technologies Conference at MIT on September 27 and 28.
Kellis, an assistant professor of computer science at MIT and a Ó³»´«Ã½ associate member, is honored for his work to develop new computational methods that compare different organisms' full genome sequences. Such genome-wide comparisons help to pinpoint the most important pieces of DNA, including genes as well as the sequences that regulate them, and to expose the mysterious ways in which genomes change during the course of evolution.
Ting, an assistant professor of chemistry at MIT and a Ó³»´«Ã½ associate member, is recognized for her elegant efforts to jury-rig proteins with a tiny spotlights, thereby casting light on the workings of a particular molecule or cellular process. Compared to conventional methods based on the green fluorescent protein (GFP), Ting's techniques, which use fluorescent "quantum dots" to chemically tag proteins, are dramatically brighter and less likely to perturb the particular phenomenon that is under observation.
"The TR35 is an amazing group of people," said Jason Pontin, editor-in-chief of Technology Review. "Their accomplishments are likely to shape their fields for decades to come."
