Neuroscience For Kids

Real Genius is Awarded
By Ellen Kuwana
September 24, 2008

How would like to receive $100,000 each year for the next five years? You can - all you have to do is be a "genius," as the awards from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation are informally known.

The money is to recognize outstanding work by young (well, relatively young, most recipients are in their 30s and older) people at a "pivotal point" in their career. All different people get the awards. This year, nine scientists (of a total of 25 awardees) received a phone call to tell them they were geniuses.

"The idea is to pick exceptionally creative people at an important moment in their career and give them the financial freedom to pursue their work," said Jonathan Fanton, president of the MacArthur Foundation, as reported in the Boston Globe newspaper.

Let's meet the two genius neuroscientists, who are both women:

• Rachel Wilson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard University. Check out her web site for some cool photos. Dr. Wilson's lab does research on the tiny brain of the fruit fly to learn more about how the senses of taste and smell work. One of the main questions she is trying to understand is how the brain distinguishes different smells. What -- you thought that was your nose's job? Yes, your nose is important but those smells would mean nothing without the brain. Other than figuring out how animals' sense of smell really works, discovering what and how neural patterns work will shed light on other complex biological questions such as language.

• Sally Temple, Ph.D., Scientific Director, New York Neural Stem Cell Institute. Dr. Temple is a developmental neuroscientist who studies how embryonic neural stem cells turn into many different types of cells in the nervous system. This research may lead to treatments for neurodegenerative disorders or for nervous system tumors. Dr. Temple says it's amazing to think that these starter cells have the "power to make a brain, and it's impossible to turn away from that." One of her accomplishments has been to identify and grow a line of cells that become glia, a type of nerve cell that serves as support for the neurons they surround. Another aspect of her research suggests that the limited success so far of using embryonic stem cell transplants to repair neural damage might be due to timing: the introduction of stem cells has been done at the wrong stage of development. In other words, embryonic stem cell transplants might work better if the stem cells were allowed to differentiate (develop into different cell types) longer before transplantation. What is the goal of this research? To be better able to treat and reverse damage to the central nervous system damage caused by trauma, neurodegenerative diseases, tumors, or stroke.

Copyright © 1996-2008, Eric H. Chudler, University of Washington