I was interested in science or, at least, nature from an early age, learning the names of planets, cutting cartoons with facts about animals out of the newspaper and gluing them into a scrapbook, and, with a friend when I was five or six, trying to design a submarine. Martin Chalfie ageanimalcartoon share on social
Trying to understand fundamental processes that take place as organisms develop and how their various cells interact with one another - one can see what happens with those cells by asking questions about the fundamentals of biology. Martin Chalfie biologycelldevelop share on social
I do think of this prize as the GFP prize, and I happen to fortunately be one of the people that goes along for the ride. Martin Chalfie fortunatelygfphappen Change image and share on social
The prize was really for the molecule. In 1962, Osamu Shimomura discovered a protein in a jellyfish that caused it to glow bright green. With colleagues, 30 years later, I was able to insert this G.F.P. gene into bacteria and make them turn green. Martin Chalfie bacteriumbrightcause share on social
We have found that fusions of GFP with the RING finger domains of certain E3 ubiquitin ligases creates an unstable GFP. We have used unstable GFP to learn how disruption of microtubules in the touch receptor neurons causes a generalized reduction in protein levels in the cells. Martin Chalfie cellcreatedisruption share on social
One of the great things about working on C. elegans was the fact that it was transparent, and so when I first heard that seminar describing GFP, and realised, 'I work on this transparent animal, this is going to be terrific! I'll be able to see the cells within the living animal.' Martin Chalfie animalcelldescribe share on social
Indeed, we often mark our progress in science by improvements in imaging. Martin Chalfie imageimprovementmark Change image and share on social
If you do an experiment and it gives you what you did not expect, it is a discovery. Martin Chalfie discoveryexpectexperiment Change image and share on social