Statement of Purpose

     They call it the last frontier. Last summer I set out for Alaska, to see the true wildness left in this world. This spirit of adventure took me to Homer on the Kenai peninsula, where I became the "dog handler" for Iditarod musher Jack Berry and his sixty huskies. Although I came to Alaska to live among the wild, I found myself spending all my free time teaching English pronunciation to a Brazilian doctor and arguing plant physiology with the old women of the Homer Garden Club, when I wasn't hitchhiking the fifteen miles to the Homer Public Library. For better or for worse I'm obsessed with learning, and I want to take my pursuit of knowledge to a far greater scale.

    Theoretical physicists are in pursuit of the grand unifying theory, the set of equations that will make compatible all of this world's macro- and microcosms. As I see it, there is a similar grand objective in the world of biology. I feel a drive to elucidate the mechanisms of life through molecular studies. There are ways, paths, lines of thinking that converge the realm of the biological with the domain of chemical logic. I know that a solid understanding of the physical function of proteins can be that unifying link.

    Now it is the rainy winter of my fourth and final year at Reed College. I have been an enthusiastic biochemistry and molecular biology major enrolled in what is possibly the best program of its kind. This past spring I worked independently on a project to deter- mine the preferred conformation of dehydrated isosorbide. While this was interesting in its own right, I think that the knowledge obtained through studies of organic chemistry is most relevant when applied toward macromolecules. Aside from being fascinating structures, they have a significance reaching far beyond the laboratory. I've chosen the topic of my undergraduate thesis with these greater interests in mind. For this thesis I am pipetting toward a crystal structure of xylose isomerase that contains a single active site mutation. I find it absolutely amazing that proteins can catalyze reactions and am obsessed with the relationship between their function and structure. Enzymes catalyze reactions, but an amino acid polymer is also capable of much more. Motor proteins,G-proteins, the amalgamations in the SNARE hypothesis--cells have created proteins for an intense diversity of uses. I am lucky to be a structural biologist at a time, when the techniques necessary to decipher the form of these proteins are uncovered. I am intrigued by the functional structure of proteins, and value any laboratory method that can provide molecular insight. I chose to apply to Scripps because I have been uncommonly impressed by the structural research I've seen published by Scripps researchers. Orton Gilula's and Nigel Unwin's investigations of the structure and functional mechanisms of gap-junction and ion channels. are especially intriguing. I find ion channels to be wondrous edifices. Ion channels are contraptions straight out of a Dr. Seuss story book: one massive protein that chooses to allow specific ions through it, if and only if it is satisfied with the chemical and electrical environment surrounding it. This truly is a level of chemistry where biological decisions are made.

    I could drone on for pages about the research that I find fascinating, as Scripps has a collection of amazing resources. I would love the opportunity to work in a laboratory with this talent. I am enrolling in graduate school to learn more and to understand greater biological systems so that I will be able to apply my molecular knowledge to my own research. I'm fascinated by the biology of the cell; with a thorough understanding of the techniques available to the protein scientist, I will finally possess the ability to address the basic hows and whys of cell function.

    Two years ago I spent a semester abroad with the School for Field Studies in the Pacific island nation of Palau. With every mangrove and coral reef transect we took, I wanted to know: "Why do these angel fish live here? How can these trees grow out of the salt sea?" The only answers my professors could give: "Because the fish do best In this biotic environment. . . because tl1ey-'ve evolved and adapted for longer than you can imagine." The answers available are just not satisfactory, but I know that with more training I could find those answers for myself. I want answers with a mechanism: answers that resemble not statistical spreadsheets, rather blueprints of ingenious design; answers that might detail how membrane proteins balance harsh extra-cellular conditions with a cytoplasm that is conducive to life. These are answers I need to find, and I'm too stubborn to quit now. I need to go to graduate school, for I've only just learned the principles of protein structure and function. I want to be an expert.

    The MCSC Program holds the resources that can enable me to continue my quest