Study of centenarians showed each was five times more likely than the general population to have a similar mtDNA mutation.

In a triumph of bioengineering, an interdisciplinary team of California Institute of Technology researchers has imaged the blood flow inside the heart of a growing embryonic zebrafish.

New gene therapy that is highly effective in preventing the HIV virus.

PASADENA, Calif. — The McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience will award $300,000 over three years to California Institute of Technology biology professor Paul H. Patterson for research he is conducting on mental illness.

Patterson is one of seven researchers nationally who are each being awarded the same amount in order to further their studies into diagnosing, preventing, and treating injuries or diseases affecting the brain and spinal cord.

Pamela Bjorkman, professor of and executive officer for biology at the California Institute of Technology, has been awarded the Max Planck Research Prize by the Max Planck Society in Germany. She joins 11 other outstanding international researchers in this year's honor.

The award is presented each year to "individual foreign and German researchers who lead their respective fields with regard to outstanding, internationally recognized scientific achievements," according to the society's official Website.

In a study that combines state-of-the-art biological imaging with gene expression analysis, scientists at the California Institute of Technology have uncovered a fundamental insight into the way embryonic cells and tissue move about to form key structures along the vertebrate axis. The study, which could lead to a better understanding of human development, takes advantage of the accessibility of chick embryos to embryonic manipulation.

Alexander Varshavsky receives Wilson award for his research on ubiquitin.

Genetic studies for decades have estimated that humans and chimpanzees possess genomes that are about 98.5 percent similar. In other words, of the three billion base pairs along the DNA helix, nearly 99 of every 100 would be exactly identical.

PASADENA, Calif. — The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has announced that five members of the Caltech faculty have been elected to membership in the academy for contributions to their respective scientific fields.

The Caltech faculty members who have been elected are Richard Andersen, Boswell Professor of Neuroscience; David Anderson, professor of biology and investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI); Ronald Drever, professor of physics, emeritus; Mary Kennedy, Davis Professor of Biology; and Mark Wise, McCone Professor of High Energy Physics.

PASADENA, Calif. — The American Philosophical Society (APS) recently announced that Pamela J. Bjorkman, professor of biology at Caltech and investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), and Peter B. Dervan, Bren Professor of Chemistry, are two of the 37 new members elected in this year.

Bjorkman is being recognized for her work with molecules needed for cell-surface recognition, and their role in the immune system.