Upfront
Two Stanford scientists are Nobel laureates Thomas Sudhof and Michael Levitt take prizes in Medicine, Chemistry
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tanford University is home to two more Nobel laureates after structural biologist Michael Levitt and Thomas Sudhof, professor of molecular and cellular physiology, won the awards this week. Levitt, a professor at the School of Medicine, is receiving the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He uses computer models to study biological phenomena, specifically focusing on the structures and interactions of large molecules called macromolecules. Sudhof won the prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research on how brain cells communicate. With the induction of Sudhof and Levitt, the university is now home to 22 living Nobel laureates and nine deceased, according to its website. Levitt — who shares the $1.2 million prize with Martin Karplus of the University of Strasbourg in France and Harvard University and Arieh Warshel of the University of Southern California — has researched the intersection of disciplines of computer science and biology since the 1960s, when computers were programmed using holes punched into cards. “(Levitt) was interdisciplinary before it was fancy to be
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by Kimberlee D’Ardenne
Thomas Sudhof has won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work in synaptic trafficking. interdisciplinary,” said John L. Hennessey, president of Stanford University. “He was a computer hacker when it was cool.” “My day started at 1 a.m. when I went to sleep,” Levitt said Wednesday. “And then I was awoken 10 minutes later,” by the phone call from Sweden. “My phone never rings,” he added. “Everyone sends me texts and emails. So when the phone first rang I was sure it was a wrong number. When it rang a second time I picked it up. I immediately heard a Swedish accent and got very excited. It was like having five double espressos.” The South African-born Levitt, who holds U.S., British and
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Palo Alto preschool teacher wins award Teacher Tra’Shell Reese leads Pre-K students Blake Mallet, far left, Brady Babinaeu, center, Liam Uyue, right and Ryan Junkin-Pisani, top right, in a play exercise in which the students play bingo using each others’ names and faces. Reese, who lives in subsidized housing in Milpitas and uses a free VTA bus pass to get to work, is one of 12 teachers across the country this year to win $10,000 awards from the Children’s Creative Learning Centers (CCLC). CCLC is a division of the globaleducation company Knowledge Universe, which operates 3,000 schools in five countries, including preschools at Stanford University, on the campuses of technology companies like Electronic Arts and Cisco and before- and after-school care at local schools including Nixon Elementary School. The $10,000 prize money, she said, will allow her to finally finish her early childhood education credential, perhaps at Mission College near her home. “I really just love this job,” she said. N — Chris Kenrick
Israeli citizenship, joined Stanford’s Department of Structural Biology in 1987. His work in determining the structure of important molecules contributes to understanding their function within the body and also how they might interact with pharmaceutical drugs designed to treat disease. “Molecules work because of their structure,” he said. “And cells worked because of where things are placed inside. The only way to interfere is to first learn their three-dimensional structure. If you wanted to change a city but had no idea of where the buildings are, you would have no idea where to start.” During a Wednesday press conference he recognized his wife of 46 years, Rina, an artist, for supporting him. “I am a very passionate scientist, but passionate scientists often make very bad husbands,” he said. The couple has three sons and three grandchildren. He also credited the computer industry for much of the work he accomplished. “There is a very clear computational aspect in this prize,” Levitt said. “One of the problems I suppose with computer science is there is no Nobel Prize for computer science. This award is recognition of the importance of computation in biology.” Thomas Sudhof got the call that he had won the prize as he was driving from Madrid to Baeza, Spain. He shares the prize with James Rothman, a former Stanford professor of biochemistry who now works at Yale University, and Randy Schekman, who did his doctoral work at Stanford and now works at the University of California, Berkeley. The prize acknowledges the individual contributions of the three scientists to the body of research identifying the biochemical mechanisms by which brain cells, called neurons, bridge physical gaps, called synapses, to communicate information from one cell to another. Communication across synapses happens because of the function of special parts of neuronal cell walls, called synaptic trafficking proteins. Synaptic trafficking proteins enclose around other molecules, enabling them to be released for travel to a second neuron. Sudhof’s research focused on the attachment of synaptic trafficking proteins to neuronal cell walls. Knowing how the brain wires itself could help determine how and why connections become dysfunctional, which instead has
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STANFORD
Michael Levitt, Stanford University professor of structural biology, has won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. implications for treating brain dis“I am not sure about simulateases such as mental health dis- ing the whole brain with comorders, Parkinson’s disease and puters. To be honest, I am not Alzheimer’s disease. even sure that is a particularly But the research that remains is important goal right now,” he daunting, in part because of the said. “My hopes and feelings of massive scale of the brain, which success would be much easier to is made up of more than 80 billion satisfy: if we could find a pathneurons. Each one connects to way that causes synapse loss in thousands of others, and Sudhof’s disease. Maybe we should be a research shows that even a single little more humble towards the synapse is complicated. enormous wonderful organ that “A synapse is not just a relay is the brain.” station. It is not even like a comSudhof said he is very optimisputer chip, which is an immutable tic about the possibilities of future element. Every synapse is like a work translating into treatment, nanocomputer all by itself,” he in spite of the hugeness of the restated in a press release. search questions. The entire brain is often com“I think we can do it,” he said, pared to a complex computer. Mod- “but at the same time, it is a really eling brain function is an active difficult problem.” N Editorial Intern Kimberlee area of research, and Sudhof said he believes simulating portions of D’Ardenne can be emailed at kdardenne@paweekly.com. what the brain does is possible. PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL CIVIC CENTER, 250 HAMILTON AVENUE BROADCAST LIVE ON KZSU, FM 90.1 CABLECAST LIVE ON GOVERNMENT ACCESS CHANNEL 26 ********************************** THIS IS A SUMMARY OF COUNCIL AGENDA ITEMS. THE AGENDA WITH COMPLETE TITLES INCLUDING LEGAL DOCUMENTATION CAN BE VIEWED AT THE BELOW WEBPAGE: http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/knowzone/agendas/council.asp
FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 14, 2013 STANDING COMMITTEE MEETINGS The City/School Committee will meet on October 17, 2013 at 8:30 AM to discuss: 1) School Traffic Study and Student Use of Transit Services, 2) Safe Routes to School, 3) Enrollment Report, and 4) Common Challenges on Medical Benefits.
Soprano
Music Director
Thomas Shoebotham
Richard
Giuseppe
Wagner Verdi Rienzi Overture “Nur eine Waffe taugt” from Parsifal
“Geliebter, sag!” from Tannhäuser
“Liebestod” from Tristan und Isolde
Juyeon Song
Tenor
Ben
Bongers Overture to La forza del destino Letter Quartet from Falstaff Quartet from Rigoletto “O don fatale” from Don Carlo Prelude to La traviata “Sempre Libera” from La traviata
— also featuring soloists from San Francisco’s
Opera on Tap —
Tickets:
$20/$17/$10
(general / senior / student)
at the door or online
8pm* Saturday, October 19, 2013 Cubberley Theatre 4000 Middlefield Rd, Palo Alto, CA
* 7:30pm Pre-concert talk & Post-concert reception
www.paphil.org
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