1, while Ian Burbulis, a molecular biologist, looked at enzymatic complexes in Arabidopsis as a means of learning about metabolic pathways2. Mathematician Lok plugged away at a computer modeling program that enabled scientists to enter the rules of protein interactions, rather than writing out each step3. The program, called Moleculizer, uses those simple rules to predict the ways the alpha pathway would respond to environmental changes.
The researchers met weekly to discuss their projects. The gatherings had a very "think-tankish" feel to them, says Yu. Burbulis, who joined the lab as a postdoc in 1999 from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., remembers meetings where "ideas were just popping off like popcorn." Everyone had wild notions about the future of biology, and a different plan about what needed to be done.
The institute was fired up, but still without a single vision or direction. "The atmosphere was excellent, ...
