Daily News from New York, New York • 43

4 11 sti isi in tsi tsi to) ii) id f1" i II I III fv- LiLi.LJ. L3 Li Lj Li iJdd V7(Br DWJ -J JL of TTT. 4 4 PHtt. MAMSRELD Gregory Long (Inset), president of the New York Botanical Garden, addressed opening day at the Pfizer Plant Research Laboratory: 23M Pfizer lab to study plants CHARLES DARWIN DUBBED it the "abominable mystery." But scientists in the Bronx are on the case, seeking clues to when and how the first flowering plants evolved and answers to other root bo PS named for artist Paintings, wooden sculp-I tunes and collages all created by grammar school students and inspired by the work of renowned abstract expressionist and longtime New Yorker Esteban Vicente were spotlighted Tuesday, as Public School 170 in the Bronx was formally renamed The Esteban Vicente School. Celebrated artist and Vicente protege Chuck Close was joined by Vicente's widow, Harriet Vicente, school principal Nancy Ramos, parents and community leaders to celebrate the renaming.

Also present was David Marquis, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Marquis Studios, a pioneer in nontraditional approaches to arts education, which has partnered with the school for the past six years. Vicente (1903 2001) was a brilliant painter and teacher who made a point never to exhibit his work in his native Spain during the Franco dictatorship. In 1988, the Spanish government opened the Esteban Vicente Museum of Contemporary Art in Segovia, Spain. Transport issues Westchester County residents will have the chance this week to have their say over how $50 million in federal funding to study transportation-related issues should be spent County Executive Andy Spano is urging residents to come to the Westchester County Center in White Plains Wednesday for two "listening sessions" at 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Residents can express their opinions about transportation safety, infrastructure and mobility, as well as how transportation affects quality-of-life and land-use issues. "Tell us your concerns and we will study the issue to identify solutions," Spano said in a statement. Call (845) 431-5768 or contact jshanahandot.state. ny.us. tanical questions.

Drawn like bees to a flower, luminaries of BY S0NDRA WOLFER DAILY NEWS WRITER i. Vs .1 -V: i-' i Jy I i 4 I ii i iininiiiinmiM imiiiimi ii to science gathered to laud the opening of the $23 million Pfizer Plant Research Laboratory at the New York Botanical Garden last week. Tm fascinated, above all things, with the evolution of plants," said Dr. Oliver Sacks, the renowned neurologist and author of "Awakenings and "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat." A visitor to the garden and its labs for 40 years, Sacks said the latest technology in the Pfizer lab will open up a "new universe" of research at the garden. "Now we can classify plants by their genomes and really see how the tree of life arose and that's tremendously exciting," said Sacks, who was joined for the opening by Nobel Laureate James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, Dr.

Gerald Edel-man, Nobel Prize-winner for discoveries about the chemical structure of antibodies, and Edward Wilson, the renowned biologist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Using the latest DNA sequencing technology, scientists at the lab will explore the genomics of plants their gene function. They also will study plant evolution, biodiversity and the relationships between plant species. The lab will place the garden at the forefront of plant genomics, a field of research that emerged only five years ago when a small mustard plant was the first plant genome sequenced. With nine labs, including a large, open lab on the second floor with several robotic work stations, the new facility triples the garden's former lab space.

The two-story, building was funded by Pfizer, the largest private donor to the project, as well as the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, New York State and New York City. For the first time, the garden's staff scientists, visiting scientists, and graduate and postdoctoral students will all be located under one roof, which is expected to foster collaboration, innovation and an easier exchange of ideas. The scientists also will have extraordinary access to the garden's rich resources, including samples from the surrounding living collections and dried samples from the garden's extensive herbarium. Since the garden opened in 1891, scientists there have collected living and dried samples from research excursions around the world. "We are uniquely positioned to be able to answer certain types of questions using genomics tools," said Dr.

Amy Litt, director of plant genomics. While the research may have future implications for sustaining biodiversity, the devel- 3 a 3 Q. 01 2 to PMLMANSRELD Oliver Sacks hailed the new addition. opment of pharmaceutical and improvement of crops, the lab's focus is pure research. But this new frontier at the garden is not solely science for science's sake.

"If there were no plants there would be no air to breathe, no animals, no food," said Dennis Stevenson, vice president for botanical science. swoffernydaiynews.com.