Shiladitya DasSarma received his Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1984 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and then took up a two-year postdoctoral fellowship@Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He served on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst from 1986 to 2001. In 2001, he moved his laboratory to the Center of Marine Biotechnology@the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, where he is a full professor. He also holds a teaching appointment in the Graduate Program in Life Sciences@the University of Maryland-Baltimore. His laboratory group includes his wife, Priya DasSarma, who earned her M.S. in microbiology from the University of Massachusetts with a certification to teach biology. She currently specializes in biotechnology education and science outreach for students of all ages. Writing in the sidebar (at end of article), she discusses the advantages of Halobacterium NRC-1 as a classroom tool. Address: University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, 701 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD 21202. Internet: dassarma@umbi.umd.edu