Instrumentation for Study of Biological Structure

该奖项为一批杰出的研究人员提供资金，他们研究生物结构，特别关注脊椎动物的结构。这笔资金将用于购买显微镜、摄像机和录像机、计算机和现代形态测量分析所需的专门计算机软件。虽然结构研究是生物学研究中一个由来已久的领域，但最近在分子和亚细胞组织研究方面取得的显著进展在一定程度上使更高层次的组织研究黯然失色，因为计算机的应用已经允许越来越复杂的定量形态学。将视频设备与显微镜相结合，并使用计算机存储和分析视频数据，是这一领域取得进展的关键因素。对形态的研究继续为生物进化的方式和原因提供关键的见解，并了解物种对其环境的适应。该奖项承认了形态学研究的持续重要性以及现代仪器在这些研究中的重要性。

This award provides funds to an outstanding group of investigators who study organismal structure with particular attention to that of vertebrates. The funds will be used to purchase microscopes, video cameras and recorders, computers and specialized computer software need for modern morphometric analysis. Although the study of structure is a long established area of biological investigation, the recent remarkable progress in studies of molecular and subcellular organization has somewhat eclipsed studies of higher level organization at a time when the application of computers has permitted increasingly sophisticated quantitative morphology. The coupling of video equipment to microscopes together with the use of computers for storage and analysis of the video data has been the key element of progress in this area. The study of morphology continues to provide key insights into the how and why of organismal evolution, and to out understanding of adaptation of species to their environments. This award recognizes the continuing importance of the study of morphology and of the importance of modern instrumentation in these studies.