Eric Betzig

Ann Arbor native Eric Betzig was one of three scientists to win the Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday for finding ways to make microscopes more powerful than previously thought possible, allowing scientists to see how diseases develop inside the tiniest cells. Working independently of each other, U.S. researchers Betzig and William Moerner and Stefan Hell of Germany shattered previous limits on the resolution of optical microscopes by using glowing molecules to peer inside tiny components of life.

(AP Photo | Matt Staley, Howard Hughes Medical Institute)

Ann Arbor native Eric Betzig, along with another American and a German scientist, won the Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday for increasing the power of microscopes.

Betzig, who currently works at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Asburn, Virginia, is the son of Ann Arbor Machine Company founder and long-time owner Robert Betzig. The company closed in 2009.

After earning his master's degree and doctorate in applied and engineering physics from Cornell University, Betzig worked for AT&T Bell Laboratories in New Jersey for six years.

In 1996, Betzig returned to Michigan to work at his father’s Chelsea-based company. As the vice president of research and development for Ann Arbor Machine Co., he oversaw product development at the company and introduced a new flexible adaptive servohydraulic techonology.

According to a biography on the Howard Hughes website, Betzig decided after a few years in Chelsea that he wanted to return to the world of science. His problem was that he had no scientific publications in 10 years.

“There was this big gap on my resume," he told the site. “So I knew I had to come up with some intellectual capital to get people to listen to me again."

Betzig developed that intellectual capital in a cottage near Hi-Land Lake in the Waterloo Recreation Area near Hell, Mich. He returned to microscopy, the subject of his Ph.D. thesis, and eventually developed a way for scientists to see smaller objects than they ever thought possible.

According to an Associated Press report, Betzig and the two other scientists honored, who worked independently of Betzig, were able to break the previous limit on microscope resolution by using molecules that glow on command. The advancement made it possible to study the interplay between molecules inside cells.

The report said that Betzig used this new microscopic ability to track cell division inside embryos.

In addition to receiving the Nobel Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Betzig, William Moerner and Stefan Hell of Germany will each be awarded one-third of the 8-million kronor ($1.1 million) prize.

Ben Freed is a general assignments reporter for The Ann Arbor News. Email him at benfreed@mlive.com and follow him on twitter at @BFreedinA2. He also answers the phone at 734-623-2528.