Cell motility and cytokinesis: From mysteries to molecular mechanisms in five decades

Abstract

This is the story of someone who has been fortunate to work in a field of research where essentially nothing was known at the outset but that blossomed with the discovery of profound insights about two basic biological processes: cell motility and cytokinesis. The field started with no molecules, just a few people, and primitive methods. Over time, technological advances in biophysics, biochemistry, and microscopy allowed the combined efforts of scientists in hundreds of laboratories to explain mysterious processes with molecular mechanisms that can be embodied in mathematical equations and simulated by computers. The success of this field is a tribute to the power of the reductionist strategy for understanding biology.