Salk Institute
40 Years On The Frontier
by Ryan Thomas
Photography by Vincent Knakal and the Salk Institute
Not far from the University of California,San Diego, and scant
miles from the boutique-laden shores of La Jolla, sits one of the most important
biological research facilities in the world: The Salk Institute. It was 40
years ago that famed virologist Jonas Salk, aided by the March of Dimes, built
the visionary research facility, where the focus would be a universal exploration
of the human body as conducted by the world’s top biological experts.
Today there are some 800 staff, from professors to postdoctoral trainees to
graduate students, many with notable accolades: four of the current residents
are Noble Laureates, and five of the scientists who have won the Noble Prize
were trained at the institute.
Salk chose the Torrey Pines Mesa himself, requesting
a gift of the land from the San Diego City Council. He was granted approval
by both the council and
the citizens of the city, having then become world famous due to his life-changing
polio vaccine, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year with an event
at the institute. The vaccine hit the market in 1955, and by 1962 the number
of recorded polio cases dropped from 45,000 to only 910. It was one of the
most important discoveries of our time, and one for which Salk refused compensation.
Instead, he offered it free to the world, preferring to heal those in need
over amassing a fortune.
Today, the institute continues Salk’s original
initiative, that of studying all aspects of human life. Success has come
in many forms, including discoveries
in cancer, AIDS, diabetes, gene therapy, and more. Such progress has been
made both because of the acumen of the staff and also their eagerness to
work in
the breathtaking facility that is the institute.
If You Build It
The center itself is one of the world’s most stunning achievements
in modern architecture. Completed in 1963, it is now an official historic
building
and was featured in the American Institute of Architect’s (AIA)
exhibit Structures of Our Time: 31 Buildings That Changed Modern Life.
Upon entering the institute’s courtyard, flanked
on either side by the mirror-imaged laboratory structures angled toward
the horizon,
a vista of the
Pacific Ocean stretching into the distance, one can’t help but
feel a magnificent sense of importance in surrounding. It is said that
the actual
design was inspired by a moment of reflection, as Salk stood on the
mesa and stared out into the sea, suddenly overwhelmed by spirituality
and
environment;
it was what he felt in Assisi many years earlier, where he retreated
to distance himself from the disappointments of his polio vaccine experiments.
The AIA
has called it the place where poetry and proof
come together.
Designed by famed architect Louis Kahn, the institute
echoes one of Salk’s
sentiments, that science is as much about art and inspiration as it
is about math and chemistry. His instructions to Khan were to create
a facility that
captured that sense of spirituality, but that was also an aesthetic
achievement worthy of a visit by Picasso.
“The scientists here are all so passionate about
what they do,” says
vice president of communications Cathy Yarbrough. “Just like artists,
they’re
driven by a need to discover. Come here on the weekend and you’ll
find that many of the staff are still working.”
Down the center
of the grand courtyard runs a river of water, culminating in
a serene reflecting pool and a waterfall that gurgles onto a
small patio overlooking
the La Jolla coast, eventually flowing out to sea. It’s
referred to as the river of life. According to Yarbrough, the
water represents
knowledge,
and flows into the sea at the west end, it is spreading knowledge
to the world. The courtyard itself is wide and open to the air
and sunshine, without any
benches or sculptures to disrupt the view of the horizon or the
flow of the water. This is the same courtyard where the Symphony
at Salk concert series
unfolds, which coincidentally is celebrating its tenth anniversary
this year.
The labs of the institute were designed to be accessible
to all the scientists on board and encourage a free-flow of
ideas. Walls
do
not separate them,
nor are they so wide that middle grounds feel cut off from
the outside world. Windows
line the inner and outer sides of the narrow labs, constantly
allowing sunlight to flood the rooms. This lack of walls creates
an astounding
sense of community,
putting scientists and students in perpetual touch with one
another.
“Without the walls,” says Yarbrough, “everyone
here is aware of everyone else. People from one lab can discuss topics
with another lab. There’s
no feeling of isolation.”
Dr. Richard Murphy, president
and CEO of the institute, says this type of interaction quite
often leads to new discoveries. “For example, our brain
scientists, are routinely interacting with cancer specialists
and plant biologists to share
information” he says. It turns out that, more often
than not, information from one field leads to progress in
another.”
Discussion was part of the equation during
construction, and much of the complex includes meeting areas,
both formal
and
informal, as well
as outdoors
and indoors.
The columns in the courtyard are composed of giant chalkboards
to accommodate sudden moments of inspiration — though
one of them spent years as a thank you note to Salk until
it finally faded away. All open niches include tables
and chairs, and all are in positions to receive both direct
and indirect sunlight. Even the first two floors, which are
below ground level, are flooded with sunlight
thanks to Khan’s use of 40-foot long light wells.
Additionally,
each floor is built above a support floor that houses everything
necessary to run each particular lab, such
as electricity
and plumbing.
This makes each lab independent, ensuring that if the power
in one fails, others
will not be affected.
The inventive use of space and light,
the view of the sea, the mixture of poetry and practicality, means
the institute
is not
just an inventiice
structure
that
houses labs — it is a muse for the scientific mind.
Breakthroughs
The research conducted at Salk is life-changing.
Whether it’s studying
plant biology to improve the world’s food supply,
or mapping the uncharted regions of the brain, no stone
is left unturned, and no idea is regarded as
inconceivable. Cutting-edge experiments, such as using
stripped down versions of HIV for beneficial purposes,
and studying a cell’s “window of
opportunity,” are just some of the institute’s
projects frequently featured in today’s top medical,
academic, and scientific journals.
“Our scientists daily are discovering new clues
about the biology of cells,” says
Murphy, “to better understand the abnormal biology
associated with disease.”
For instance, by studying
the embryonic development of zebrafish, Dr. Juan Carlos
and his Salk team have uncovered
a novel
genetic pathway
that ensures
a body’s organs develop correctly and in the right
position.
“This discovery has important implications for
stem cell medicine,” says
Murphy, “which continues to face the challenge of
inducing stem cells to form new organs.”
Stem cell
research is just one of the newer areas being explored
at the institute. According to Murphy, stem cell
studies
may someday lead
to
transplant therapies,
along the lines of kidney and liver transplants common
in today’s medical
arena. Also of note is Dr. Marc Montminy’s diabetes
research, which just saw a breakthrough in the discovery
of a molecular connection between two chemical
pathways essential for blood sugar regulation, and a study
of apoptosis (commonly called “cell death”),
which eliminates mutated and dysfunctional cells.
“The institute will also be opening a chemistry
unit for the first time,” Murphy
adds, “the goal of which is to bring chemistry and
biology together to create molecules that will help us
understand how proteins such as insulin
work within cells.”
Forty Years
Though in 1965 it was not the active field it is today,
Salk proved that research in biological science — be it zebrafish or wheat grains — is the
key to understanding the proliferation of human life. What many regarded as
science fiction, he saw as an inevitable truth. The institute has based its
research on that notion for almost half a century, and sees only improved health
for the future.
“Biological sciences have improved so much in
the last four decades due to the Salk Institute,” remarks Murphy, “that
if a scientist from 1965 lived the last 40 years isolated on a desert
island, he or she would not
be
able to grasp what is happening today in the labs.”
According
to Murphy, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, heart disease,
mental illness, AIDS, and many other issues will soon
be alleviated as research continues at
the Salk Institute. The people of 2045, says Murphy,
are going to feel like the scientists of 1965.
“Forty years from now, I have no doubt that
the diseases that currently ravage us will be like polio is today:
history.”
The 40th anniversary celebration of the Salk Institute
will take place this November. Yarbrough says they
are still planning
the
festivities, but the
day will honor the achievements and future goals
of both Salk and the
staff.
The Weight War
Salk Institute researchers have discovered
a molecular switch that, when activated, prevents obesity. Such basic
research lays groundwork
for fast-track development of new drugs to fight it and its related
disorders. As obesity and its associated health risks are rapidly
reaching near-epidemic proportions in the American population, physicians
and
public health experts are eager for safe and effective medical treatments
for people who are chronically overweight and thus at high risk for
heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
What scientist Dr. Ronald Evans
discovered is that stimulating the protein PPARd — short for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor — depleted
fat deposits in mice, while mice deficient in PPARd were prone to
obesity. In short, PPARd seems to be the master switch that controls
the ability
of cells to burn fat. This makes PPARd a potential target for new
drugs.
Even though the mice in the recent study ate a high-calorie,
high-fat diet, they gained little or no weight. Even more surprising,
their
endurance – the intensity and length of time of exercise – was
substantially greater than before.
Mice with the activated PPARd gene
weighed about 20 percent less than normal mice, even though both
groups received the same food at the
same rate. Once the mice were a year old, the difference in weight
widened to 35 percent.
Mice without the active gene became obese.
But a short-term treatment of the obese mice with a molecule that
activated PPARd resulted in
a dramatic reduction in fat in their tissues. This molecule is now
in the earliest stages of being tested on people for its ability
to control cholesterol.
“However, based on our studies the practical use of this drug
will be in controlling weight,” Evans says. “By exploiting
PPARd, we hope to design drugs that can control how much fat is stored
in the body and provide a new weapon in the war on obesity.” — Ana
Kessler
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