But his goal is simple and colossal. He is ferociously driven to save the world from recurrent cancer and drug-resistant bacteria. It has such a huge medical importance, and at the same time it's scientifically a major frontier. That's what makes me wake up in the morning and want to come to work. A growing string of admirers considers Chang one of the most promising secret weapons against those urgent medical threats.
Cancer cells use basically the same mechanism to evade chemotherapy.
He's the sort of guy who definitely can have a huge impact. Chang took the job at the age of 27 after turning down eight offers from other prestigious institutions. Peter Wright, the institute's chairman of molecular biology, tends to burst into gleeful giggles when talking about Chang. Determining the structure of membrane proteins has been an area of enormous interest and importance, but incredible difficulty. Geoff has the right ideas, he developed the right technology and he has the guts to go after it.