find the streets paved with gold, I actu-
ally found the far greater treasure of
opportunity.
What I achieved was also due to timing.
I am a product of this age of molecular
biology and its corollary age of rapidly
expanding knowledge bases and bur-
geoning information systems that our
technological growth has made possible.
This lucky moment in history has
allowed all of us the privilege to be pio-
neers of new and fascinating frontiers.
When I came to this country, molecular
approaches in plant biology were just
beginning. I did not have to catch up,
because I learned along with many
people who were also just beginners in
molecular biology. So, once again, I
was lucky with good timing.
I am a cell biologist working with
plants. I am fascinated by plants: we
live on this planet because of plants
and I want to unlock secrets of plant
cell biology. In my laboratory we are
using a model plant,Arabidopsis. This
plant has a small genome and has been
sequenced with many of its proteins
identified. It is, therefore, a very con-
venient model organism for studying
processes that are important in all
plants including crop plants. My group
has worked on the trafficking of mol-
ecules through the cell’s vesicles and
vacuoles and we are interested in the
synthesis of the cell wall in plants. A
cell contains compartments called orga-
nelles. Compartments in cells are
necessary to isolate and secure a large
number of molecules that play an indi-
vidual role(s) in various functions of
the cell. In order for cells to function
properly, molecules have to be produced
and delivered to their proper destinations
within the cell. Because plants are
immobile and cannot run, they have to
be very versatile in their ability to
respond to environmental stresses and
survive. Therefore, plant cells have
evolved a highly complex organization
of functions to sustain life. The failure
of any of these functions could poison
other dynamic processes occurring
within the intracellular environment
and actually cause the destruction of
the entire cell. Alternatively, improving
the success rate of sending novel pro-
teins and carbohydrates to desired parts
of the cell can result in the improved
nutritional value of crops and increased
biomass production.We live in an era of unprecedented bio-
logical discovery. Technologies to
sequence entire genetic codes have
yielded a wealth of data that require a
focused interdisciplinary approach to
assimilate and exploit this information.
Once we understand the functions of
all gene products (proteins), how they
interact and how pathways in the cell
interact, we can really start to answer
questions about how cells function and
how the whole plant works. We call
this new science “systems biology.”
The essence of systems biology is to
model organisms and predict how
various pathways in the organism inter-
act when one pathway is affected. This
requires the infusion of plant biology
with disciplines such as mathematics,
statistics, informatics, chemistry and
engineering.It is very important that the new gener-
ation of plant biologists have multidisci-
plinary experience and training. I think
that the community of Arabidopsis
researchers will make the systems
approach work because they are exemp-
lary forward thinkers, effective trainers
and extremely open in sharing knowl-
edge and tools. I hope that many talented
young students are drawn to plant
biology. Our field allows young people
to reach for the stars and grow to the
best of their potential.
I have tried, as I built a career as an
American scientist, to foster and
mentor those who will carry our field
on into the future, to be persistent in
the pursuit of worthy goals and to
change and learn new things when this
is necessary. Although the research inLIFE BOX 4.1. NATASHA RAIKHEL 107