Scripps Adds Cambridge Cell-Research Scientists : Genetics: Institute recruits two highly respected experts as it expands its study of cellular biology.

Two scientists from Cambridge University have joined the new department of cell biology at the Research Institute of Scripps Clinic, to pursue studies of the role of the single cell as a root of illness and disease.

Sydney Brenner, now director of the molecular genetics unit at Cambridge’s Medical Research Council in England, is renowned for his pioneering work on the structure and function of genes as the cellular material responsible for the transmission of inherited information. The 64-year-old Brenner, who received his Ph.D. from Oxford University, will retain his post at Cambridge and be a visiting member of the new Scripps department, said its chairman, Norton B. Gilula. Brenner will spent time each year in both England and La Jolla, Gilula said.

Also joining the department on July 1, will be Ichiro Maruyama, who also works at Cambridge’s molecular genetics unit and is best known for his developmental genetics analysis of the nematode, a simple form of worm that is a popular target of cellular research. Maruyama, who earned his doctorate from the University of Tokyo, will work full-time at Scripps.

Already on the roster of the new Scripps department are renowned plant biologist Roger Beachy, who has developed genetic engineering techniques to make plants more resistant to disease caused by viruses, and Stephen B.H. Kent, a protein chemist best known for the preparation of one of the enzymes essential for the replication of the AIDS virus.

Gilula said he was “tremendously excited” by the addition of Brenner and Maruyama because Scripps is working to interrelate its existing research in molecular biology and chemistry with the added focus on cell biology.

Although cell biology departments are common at many universities and institutions, Gilula said Scripps will be in the uncommon position of being able to integrate the various disciplines.

“Cell biology is the cornerstone of contemporary medicine,” he said. “The basic framework for understanding bodily function now begins at the level of single cells. In medicine today, this has become the starting point for understanding normal physiology as well as pathologies associated with human function.

“At the Research Institute, we’ll be able to develop a cell-biology group that directly interfaces with the strengths we already enjoy in structural biology and chemistry,” Gilula said. “It’s probably unique to have these people all together in one place, engaging in problems with people in equally sophisticated groups who are right next door to each other.”

Gilula said the new department of cell biology will focus on how a single cell--the smallest unit of life--interacts with other cells and how abnormalities in cells create disease.

Other departments within the Research Institute are chemistry, immunology, molecular biology, molecular and experimental medicine, and neuropharmacology.

Brenner, who lives in Cambridge, is considered among scientists one of the premier contributors to solving the key puzzles of how DNA encodes genetic information, then expresses it to form the proteins--an initial step in establishing the body’s structure.

His studies also advanced the techniques that allow individual genes to be isolated by cloning.

“He’s one of the real forefathers of contemporary molecular biology,” Gilula said of Brenner. “His contribution has been unique among the people who have been recognized for creating the whole momentum we enjoy today in molecular biology.

“Scripps hasn’t had a traditional strength in this area. We haven’t had someone of his stature at our institution previously,” Gilula said.

Gilula, the new department chairman, is also dean of graduate studies at the Research Institute and has been a member of the department of molecular biology since 1986. Previously, he was a professor of cell biology at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas.