Amy Kiger: Abuzz on cell biology

F rom fl attened epithelial cells to elongated neurons, cell morphology is heavily intertwined with cell growth and function. Understanding the genetic factors that govern cell shape might therefore provide insights into the processes underlying development and disease. Amy Kiger has focused on these and other fundamental questions of cell biology in Drosophila throughout her career. She fi rst worked on circa-dian rhythm in Drosophi-la as a research technician in a laboratory at The Rockefeller University , then studied male germ line stem cell biology in fl ies as a graduate student at Stanford (1, 2). Her postdoctoral studies in Norbert Perrimon's laboratory at Harvard on the genetic basis of cell morphology and growth in Drosophila have yielded several novel insights (3–5). With the results of these massive ge-nome-wide screens (5), Kiger is now striking out on her own at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), investigating the genetic basis for cell shape in her favorite model system—the fruit fl y. She discussed with us the dizzying possibilities presented by her work. What got you interested in science? I think science was always the most important thing for me even though I hadn't quite formally put my fi nger on it initially. But when forced to think about a career, stripping away everything else that wasn't important was easy for me: what I was left with was a desire to understand life, which was an interesting and challenging prospect. I didn't have any life-changing moment, but just an ever-present interest in science because of the opportunity for having a very challenging and fun job. How did you decide to do a PhD after getting your undergraduate degree? It really seemed like the only interesting route for a career. After leaving college, where things seemed a little more abstract , I was left with, " How am I going to make this into a living? " All the other options sounded so unappealing to me. I didn't want to be a doctor, but I enjoyed research. But before going down that route, I wanted to take some time off and get more research experience before applying to graduate school. So, I worked at Rockefeller as a technician in Mike Young's laboratory for about a year. It was a good training ground for me to see what was possible. What drew you to Margaret Fuller's laboratory at Stanford for your PhD? …