Living and Breathing Science: A Milestone in Fibulin Research

In the 1980s, while working as a postdoctoral fellow with Erkki Ruoslahti in La Jolla, California, I discovered a protein that I later named fibulin from the Latin fibula for clasp. This year marked the twentieth year since my first publication on fibulin (which I pronounce FY-beau-lin). Over these two decades, many other investigators and I have built on the initial discovery. As a result, findings reported in nearly 400 manuscripts have revealed that fibulin (now called fibulin-1) is a member of family of eight extracellular matrix proteins having a variety of critical functions. One of the most significant roles to emerge for members of the fibulin family as a group is their ability to coordinate the assembly of elastic extracellular matrix fibers such as those that provide elasticity to blood vessels, lungs and skin.

Living and Breathing Science

As a boy growing up in Connecticut, when I wasn’t playing baseball, I was exploring the woods, ponds and streams in the forest behind my home, looking under rocks and logs and wading in the creeks and finding frogs, fish, tadpoles and insects. Little did I know that these were the formative experiences in my path to becoming a scientist. It has been a long journey to get where I am today as a scientist. As a result I have learned many lessons that I can impart to students and early stage researchers. In my blog series 'Living and breathing science' I will share my experiences in science and reveal my scientific credo.