Biologist makes top 2002 breakthrough

Gorovsky

he journal Science has named small-RNA research done by Martin Gorovsky, Rush Rhees Professor of Biology, as the most important scientific breakthrough of the past year. Gorovsky is one of four scientists heralded for their work in understanding how pieces of RNA can control genetic development.

"Science hails these discoveries, which are prompting biologists to overhaul their vision of the cell and its evolution, as 2002's Breakthrough of the Year," writes the journal in its year-end issue.

Gorovsky discovered that a complex error-correction system, one that likely evolved from an ancient self-defense mechanism, is still active in nearly every organism. The mechanism ensures that any foreign genetic material inserted into a cell's DNA is neutralized before being passed on to the next generation.

"This is exciting research that provides new understanding of how cells control the activity of their genes," says Joseph Gall, a cell biologist at the Carnegie Institution in Baltimore. "This work shows once again that basic research on a seemingly obscure topic--how a minute pond organism reproduces--can throw light on important medical issues such as viral infection."

Gorovsky and his postdoctoral colleague Kazufumi Mochizuki already are planning to expand their research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, and to look deeper into the way the cell's defense mechanism works.

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