I had the good luck to start research at the dawn of molecular biology when it was possible to ask fundamental questions about the nature of the nucleic acids and how information is transferred in living systems. The search for answers led me into many different areas, often with the question of how molecular structure leads to biological function. Early work in this period provided some of the...

Excitement or arousal is one of the main emotional dimensions that affects our lives on a daily basis. We win a tennis match, watch a great movie, get into an argument with a colleague—all of these are instances when most of us experience excitement, yet we do not pay much attention to it. Today, there are few systems that capture our excitement levels and even fewer that actually promote aware...