So I applied to medical school and received a scholarship at Washington University in St. Louis. Washington University turned out to be a lucky choice. The faculty was scholarly and dedicated and accessible to students.

And of course, identifying all human genes and proteins will have great medical significance.

The glimpses of human strength and frailty that a physician sees are with me still.

So I applied to medical school and received a scholarship at Washington University in St. Louis. Washington University turned out to be a lucky choice. The faculty was scholarly and dedicated and accessible to students.

As I look back on the last few decades of my life, I am struck by the good fortune that came my way.

My parents came to the United States in the early years of this century as part of a wave of Russian Jewish immigrants seeking freedom and opportunity in the New World.

People are not the only interesting organism on earth. From the point of view of scientific or commercial value, there are lots of interesting organisms.