Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Morris Herztein Professor of Biology and Physiology in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco, and Dr. Carol Greider, Daniel Nathans Professor and Director of Molecular Biology & Genetics at Johns Hopkins University - For the discovery of telomerase, the enzyme that maintains chromosomal integrity and the recognition of its importance in aging, cancer and stem cell biology. Ulrich Hartl, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, in Munich, Germany, and Dr. Arthur L. Horwich, Eugene Higgins Professor of Genetics and Pediatrics at the Yale University School of Medicine, and Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute. - For elucidation of the molecular machinery that guides proteins into their proper functional shape, thereby preventing the accumulation of protein aggregates that underlie many diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Richard P. Lifton of the Yale University School of Medicine. - For the discovery of the genes that cause many forms of high and low blood pressure in humans. Bonnie Bassler of the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. - For pioneering investigations of quorum sensing, a mechanism that allows bacteria to “talk” to each other to coordinate their behavior, even between species. Peter Hegemann, Professor of Molecular Biophysics, Humboldt University, Berlin; Dr. Georg Nagel, Professor of Molecular Plant Physiology, Department of Botany, University of Würzburg; and Dr. Ernst Bamberg, Professor and Director of the Dept of Biophysical Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Biophysics, Frankfurt, Germany for their discovery of channelrhodopsins, a family of light-activated ion channels. The discovery has greatly enlarged and strengthened the new field of optogenetics. Channelrhodopsins also provide a high potential for biomedical applications such as the recovery of vision and optical deep brain stimulation for treatment of Parkinson's and other diseases, instead of the more invasive electrode-based treatments. Lily Jan and Dr. Yuh Nung Jan of Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of California, San Francisco for their molecular identification of a founding member of a family of potassium ion channels that control nerve cell activity throughout the animal kingdom. Michael Sheetz, Columbia University; Dr. James Spudich, Stanford University, and Dr. Ronald Vale, University of California, San Francisco for explaining how cargo is moved by molecular motors along two different systems of tracks within cells. Michael Young, Rockefeller University; Dr. Jeffrey Hall, Brandeis University (Emeritus), and Dr. Michael Rosbash, Brandeis University for the discovery of the molecular mechanisms governing circadian rhythms.