People and Ideas

Genetic breakthroughs, green standouts, and a teen who changed the law.

A Recipe for Life?

J. Craig Venter wants to forge life in a lab. He's getting very close. Using chemicals that could be found in any college lab, the maverick biologist and his team constructed from scratch the entire genome of a bacterium. The feat marked the penultimate step toward creating "the first synthetic organism," says Venter, 62, a Vietnam vet, surfing lover, multimillionaire entrepreneur, founder of a high-powered research institute, and a visiting scholar at Harvard. The Mycoplasma genitalium bacterium was selected for its simplicity -- it has only 582,970 units in its DNA composition, compared with 3 billion in humans. Next step: transplanting the artificial genome into a microbe, then tweaking it to full life.

A Wizard at RISD

John Maeda may be the only college president in the country who's cooler than most of his students. The well-connected former MIT professor, who became the 16th president of the Rhode Island School of Design in June, is a high-tech humanist (his Twitter feed is a trickle of raw Zen) and a design guru -- a walking mash-up. Maeda's first moves toward his goal of an "open-source" campus include digital signboards scattered around to which anyone with an @RISD address can post words or pictures. He's also curating a collaboration with online apparel store Threadless. And he's just getting started.

High-Style, Low-Cost Hotels

A "do not disturb" sign and free HBO used to be about all you could expect from a budget-priced hotel. But recently, cheap has actually become chic thanks to several new options that are not only stylish and techie-friendly, but also affordable (with price points that range from around $100 to $185 per night). These chains -- including aloft in Lexington, Newton's Hotel Indigo, Medford's Hyatt Place, and NYLO in Warwick, Rhode Island -- boast such modern-day essentials as free WiFi, flat-screen TVs, IKEA-esque furnishings, loungy communal spaces, 24/7 gyms, and toiletries formulated by high-end brands like Aveda and Bliss Spa. One thing they lack? Prime urban real estate, but stay inside, and you'll swear you never left the city.

A Killer First Impression

Recently joining the cast of Saturday Night Live, Michaela Watkins, a onetime Boston University theater major (Class of '94), has quickly made the most of her limited appearances -- particularly with a dead-on impersonation of Arianna Huffington. "Her life mission has been to be on [SNL]," says BU assistant professor of acting Michael Kaye, a friend since their undergrad years. Now that Watkins can check that off her list, we can't wait to see her try to top her Folgers coffee spoof.

Closer to a Cure

Doug Melton and his team, whose stem-cell research at Harvard University has helped blaze a trail in the field of regenerative medicine, discovered how to turn one type of cell from a mouse's pancreas into another that produces insulin. This development could one day result in a way for the human body to create cells and tissue lost to disease. For Melton, the immediate goal is clear: "Cure diabetes," he says. And he thinks they're halfway there.

The Twang of Boston

Classic country is usually associated with the South, not the South Shore, but Scituate-spawned band Girls Guns and Glory is the real deal. There are no women in the band, and the heavy firepower comes from guitars and heartache, not weapons. But the whip-smart quartet got all the glory in 2008. Thanks to expressive playing and the Yoakam-meets-Orbison quaver of Ward Hayden's vocals, GG&G broke through onto national charts with its coltish third release, "Inverted Valentine," emerged victorious from the WBCN Rumble, and won the local Act of the Year trophy at the Boston Music Awards.

Caregiving Made Easier

An estimated 44 million people in the country (one in five families) are juggling caregiving responsibilities, the majority for someone age 50 or older. Those sobering numbers, along with personal experience, inspired Steven Dworkin of Newton and Jonathan Quint of Sudbury to start CareGiverHelper.com. At the secure site, caregivers can organize and store critical information such as doctors names, medications, appointment schedules, even a person's favorite foods and activities. Having one central location for such records is especially helpful when family members or friends living in different towns share in the care.

Genomes for Everyone!

In October, George Church, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, led nine other volunteers in baring it all, genetically speaking, by going public -- online -- with their medical records and the DNA sequences of some of their genes. Under the Personal Genome Project, Church and his lab will eventually post similar data from some 100,000 volunteers who agree to full disclosure. Their goal? To help medical researchers better understand the genetic basis of disease and other traits -- and help the public make better-informed decisions about their health.

Shopping Among Scalpers

It's like Expedia or Travelocity for the sports- and concert-ticket secondary market. For those looking to buy seats from ticket brokers, Dan Haubert and Tom Davis, both Ohio transplants now in Medford, created TicketStumbler.com. The site searches for prices from several established agencies so the shopper can compare, and it lists events in several cities nationwide (including Boston), and in Canada. Now maybe you won't have to draw straws with your first born to see who gets to go to that Celtics game.

Not Just a Bookstore

When Harvard Book Store changed hands in October, loyalists of the 76-year-old family-owned icon nearly panicked. But new owner Jeff Mayersohn (along with wife and co-owner Linda Seamonson) may be just the steward this Cambridge institution needs. Assuring the public that little would change, Mayersohn, an Internet pioneer, Harvard grad, and insatiable book collector, is using his tech background to revamp the store's website and introduce other digital touches (he sent copies of authors' talks to special club subscribers on USB drives) while preserving the shop's indie spirit.

Trans-Fat-Free Restaurants

Trans fats, the artery-clogging substance found in cakes and pastries that's considered by health experts to be the worst kind of fat, were once so common that many cooks couldn't get along without them. Well, now they have to, at least in Boston and Cambridge restaurants. Both cities adopted bans of the fats in 2008 (Cambridge's takes effect this summer), following Brookline's ban in 2007. Everyone's the better for it -- chefs included, some of whom are using old-fashioned lard again. A statewide ban of trans fats may not be far behind. Now if only we could eat less . . .

Sudden Impact

Rookie inside linebackers on the Patriots are supposed to spend their first year watching and learning. However, Jerod Mayo isn't just an exception; he's exceptional. Less than a year out of the University of Tennessee, he used his combination of speed and toughness to lead the team in tackles (including a team record 20 in one game) and was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press. The Patriots lost many starters to injury this season, but in Mayo, they also gained a genuine star.Do-It-Yourself Legislating

Now 16, Mark Chonofsky may be old beyond his years – he signs e-mails “convivially,” spent the summer working with plant specimens at Harvard, and taught himself to weave on a loom he rebuilt – but until recently he was still too young to donate blood in the Bay State. In Massachusetts, the minimum donor age had long been 17. So Chonofsky consulted the state’s legislative drafting manual and wrote a bill to lower the age to 16, with parental consent. Sponsored by his representative, it passed and was signed by the governor in the fall. Recently, Chonofsky helped organize the state’s first 16-and-up blood drive at his school, Lexington High.

One Cool Customer

You could say Boston College goalie John Muse had a decent season as a freshman, especially considering he didn’t even expect to play. After star Cory Schneider turned pro two summers ago, Muse, from East Falmouth, ended up starting all 44 games from October 2007 to April and became an immovable force, leading the Eagles to an overtime win in the Beanpot, the Hockey East conference crown, and the national championship. Declared teammate Dan Bertram: “Everyone is going to know who John Muse is now.” No argument here.

Good Show

Two leaders of local theater companies deserve to take a bow.

As producing artistic director of the small theater company Up You Mighty Race, Akiba Abaka is fearless. She’s also driven to tell stories about the black experience in an unconventional way. Those qualities served her well this past fall, when after seven years as a roving troupe, Up You Mighty Race settled in as a resident company at the Boston Center for the Arts. Her first production, In the Continuum, about two women worlds apart living with HIV, shook audiences. “We have to address issues that are important to us, like HIV/AIDS and the psychology of violence,” she says. “But we have to do it with stories that speak to individuals.” Up next for her? The development of an ensemble of actors and designers, and a collaboration with UMass-Boston’s Trotter Institute on a staged reading that splices together Radio Golf and A Raisin in the Sun.

Peter DuBois had big shoes to fill when he replaced Nicholas Martin as artistic director of the Huntington Theatre Company. Martin had raised the company’s national stature and established the Calderwood Pavilion as a second stage. But DuBois was unfazed by the challenge, and his first season at the helm has led to a delightfully quirky lineup that mixes the familiar (Tom Stoppard, Gilbert and Sullivan) and the unexpected (a new cabaret series featuring a mix of musical theater, comedy, and Berklee College of Music students). DuBois will make his own directing debut for the Huntington in April.

A Greener Way

There’s no lack of beautiful homes on Martha’s Vineyard, but most are too expensive for year-round residents. Last year, Vineyard builder South Mountain Co. completed Jenney Way, a high-performance green housing project for middle-income families. Nearly all the homes sold for $160,000 to $330,000 (half or less of the median home sale price) to eligible buyers chosen by lottery. Four houses with solar electric systems won LEED Platinum ratings – the highest standard in green design, and the first detached single-family permanently affordable homes to earn it.

Boaters, anglers, whale-watchers, energy developers – everyone wants to use our ocean resources for something. Why not have one body draw up a master plan for managing state waters and decide which zones most need protecting? It sounds like a no-brainer, but when Governor Patrick signed the Massachusetts Oceans Act in May, it was the first comprehensive ocean planning law in the nation. State officials are already working on the plan, which is scheduled to be finished by the end of this year. If it’s done right, projects like offshore natural-gas terminals could be less contentious in the future.

Light floods the patient rooms in the new Carl J. and Ruth Shapiro Cardiovascular Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, pouring through floor-to-ceiling windows that would seem better suited to a yuppie condo than a high-tech cardiac care facility. It’s the first Boston hospital building that was constructed using environmentally friendly materials and techniques. In addition to ensuring ample natural light – which, the theory goes, hastens healing and reduces medical errors – the Shapiro wing was designed to minimize water consumption and reduce noise, and it features a sophisticated ventilation system. Even the renewable rubber floors pitch in, eliminating the need for toxic chemicals to remove built-up wax.

Out of the frying pan and into . . . your car. Since 2004, Boston-based Green Grease Monkey has been helping diesel car owners convert their engines so they run on used cooking oil, a cleaner-burning fuel. In September, the business opened its first actual garage in the city, in Allston. In addition to modifying the engines, co-owners Patrick Keaney (below) and David Staunton collect waste vegetable oil from local restaurants, then filter and sell it at their shop.