| Citation | Dr. Mitchison is known for his discoveries on the dynamic properties of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton, and the mechanisms of mitosis and cell locomotion. As a student in Marc Kirschner's laboratory, he discovered the 'dynamic instability' of microtubules. He also discovered that the interface between microtubules and chromosomes is dynamic, leading to the development of the current model for chromosome movement in mitosis. As an independent scientist he has described the dynamic structure of mitotic spindles, and played a major role in analyzing the molecular basis of force production and chromosome condensation during mitosis. Recently his lab has developed techniques to analyze the contribution of actin filament dynamics to cell locomotion. Using motility of a pathogenic bacterium as a model, they have begun to dissect the biochemical basis of force production by actin polymerization. |