Brilliant Genes

Amid beakers and test tubes in the chemistry building exists a man bubbling with brilliance.\nDepartment of Chemistry chair David Clemmer was named one of Popular Science magazine's "Brilliant 10" scientists this month.\n"(What I love about science) is that there's a moment when you understand something for the first time -- that moment of discovery," said Clemmer, who said he gets so excited that he sometimes has trouble sleeping when he begins a new experiment.\nClemmer, 37, was acknowledged for his inventor's expertise and his know-how in proteomics. Proteomics is a new, multidisciplinary field that seeks uses for gigabytes of raw data churned out by the Human Genome Project.\nThe magazine didn't base its nominations on previous awards, but rather on innovative, revolutionary and time-consuming research that has broken new ground. Most of the scientists on the list are making a mark in their field, not for attention, but mostly for the pleasure they receive as a result, according to the article.\nResearch done on each scientist was based on comments from the nation's science department heads, academic think-tanks and award-givers. The magazine insisted they didn't purposely try to honor young scientists, but many of the recognized finalists are young. Overall, the magazine was looking for people who commanded attention in their fields.\nThe focus for the article was on the brilliant minds of these scientists and the future work they plan to pursue.\nClemmer is an analytical chemist, which means he makes machines or comes up with models to help other chemists do their jobs more effectively. He said he approaches science as a team and feels that a lot of credit should go to his team. \n"I don't think we practice science anymore as individuals," Clemmer said. "I would be lost without (my team)."\nHe also said that because of these resources and the people in the department, he has been able to attract kids that want to work hard to practice science. \nClemmer is known for building his invention of a giant machine that takes a sample of mystery proteins and separates them out to learn things about those proteins. He has built an instrument that is a means to the experimental study of the intricate task of proteins. He said he is proud of the infrastructure.\n"This award is about our department, and the fact that there are resources to do experiments," Clemmer said. \nHe has recently received a number of honors, including the 2000 Phi Lambda Upsilon Fresenius Award for outstanding contributions to the field of chemistry. Also, in 1999, he was named one of Technology Review magazine's top 100 young innovators.\n"He's very insightful, and I guess that's a form of brilliance," Stephen Valentine said, a colleague of Clemmer. He added that Clemmer is able to dissect a problem and see far outside of the lines. \nClemmer's recent interpretation of the human genome has exposed a new language that shows the gathering of cells and organs. Clemmer's mentor, Milos Novotny, said the unscrambling of these cells is harder than it is mad out. \n"We've done great things in the past, but here's the man who can potentially do better things than we have," Novotny said.\nHe said influencing a junior colleague was tremendously rewarding, and he thinks Clemmer will only continue to improve. \nIn Clemmer's invention, he and his team of researchers inject a biological sample into the instrument and then measure the amount of time it takes for the proteins to travel through the sample. The amount of time recorded helps Clemmer assemble a profile of the genome. Clemmer would never have been able to conclude his project had it not been for his colleague, Ray Sporleder, who was in charge of the aspect of time, Clemmer said.\n"David uses electrospray to blow things up," Sporleder said. "He realized that he could separate ions by their shapes."\nClemmer can understand diseases through his method. For example, he would be able to determine the composition of cancerous cells. The difference in time helps him understand disease.\nDespite his awards, Clemmer said he is happy to be in this field of study.\n"As long as I was in the game, I was going to be happy," Clemmer said.