A UC Riverside biologist who studies spider silk to make natural product-based materials such as biodegradable fishing lines and sutures is among the 24 winners of this year's MacArthur "genius" awards.
A Caltech scientist trying to understand how interactions between proteins and genes control the activity of cells, and another who folds DNA into complex shapes that could eventually be used in electronic circuits were also among the six California scientists who received the awards.
The winners will receive $500,000 each over the next five years to use as they see fit.
The awards are presented by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to people selected for their "creativity, originality and potential to make important contributions in the future," according to the Chicago-based foundation.
"This was a complete surprise," said biologist Cheryl Hayashi of UC Riverside. "My first question was, 'Is it someone pulling a joke on me?' "
Hayashi, 30, studies the genetics of how spiders make silk in the hopes of eventually manufacturing the materials synthetically. The silks have a number of advantages over totally synthetic materials, she said.
In many cases, they are stronger or more elastic than artificial products. They can also be manufactured under much milder conditions and thus are more environmentally friendly. And because they are composed primarily of protein, they are biodegradable.
She said she was not sure what she would do with the money, but travel probably would be one use. "So far, most of my work has been on California spiders" because "they are easy to collect around me. I'd love to go to Australia and Africa. They have some really unique, special spiders."
Hayashi is the second UC Riverside faculty member to receive the grant. Francesca Rochberg, a historian, received a grant in 1982.
Michael Elowitz, a biologist at Caltech, said he is "interested in how individual living cells are able to process information and make decisions about what they want to do."
Elowitz, 27, designs artificial genetic "circuits" and introduces them into cells to test their activity. "This synthetic approach stringently tests how well we understand and predict cellular behaviors," he said by telephone from Greece, where he was attending a scientific meeting.
The process is "extremely collaborative," Elowitz said, so perhaps his colleagues will receive a fine dinner from the grant.
