Light-Triggered Genes Reveal the Hidden Workings of Memory

Susumu Tonegawa's presence announces itself as soon as you walk through the door of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory. A three-foot-high framed photograph of Tonegawa stands front and center in the high-ceilinged lobby, flanked by a screen playing a looping rainbow-hued clip of recent research highlights. Original story reprinted with permission from Quanta Magazine, an editorially independent publication of the Simons Foundation whose mission is to enhance public understanding of science by covering research developments and trends in mathematics and the physical and life sciences. The man in the portrait, however, is anything but a spotlight-seeker. Most days, he's ensconced in the impenetrable warren of labs and offices that make up Picower's fifth floor. His hair, thick and dark in the photo, is now a subdued silver, and today, a loosely draped blue cardigan replaces the impeccable suit jacket.