The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is a United States non-profit medical research institute based in Chevy Chase, Maryland and originally founded by the aviator and engineer Howard Hughes in 1953. A non-profit organization (often called non-profit org or simply non-profit or not-for-profit) can be seen as an organization that doesnt have a goal to make a profit. ... See also Medical doctor (BE), Physician (AE), and Medical school. ... A research institute is a establishment endowed for doing research. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... For other people named Howard Hughes, see Howard Hughes (disambiguation). ... 1953 (MCMLIII) is a common year starting on Thursday. ...

As of 2005 it is one of the largest private funding organizations for biological and medical research in the United States. According to the institute's current president, Thomas R. Cech, the HHMI spends about $1 million per investigator per year, which amounts to annual investment in biomedical research of about $483 million. As of September 2005 the endowment of the Institute was valued at approximately $14.8 billion, making it the second-largest philanthropic organization in the country, behind the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Main articles: Life The most salient example of biological universality is that all living things share a common carbon-based biochemistry and in particular pass on their characteristics via genetic material, which is based on nucleic acids such as DNA and which uses a common genetic code with only minor... Thomas R. Cech received Nobel Prize in 1989 because he discovered the catalytic properties of RNA with Sidney Altman. ... The word billion and its equivalents in other languages refer to one of two different numbers, depending on whether the writer is using the long or short scale. ... The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the worlds largest charitable foundation. ...

Initially, the institute was formed with the stated goal of basic research including trying to understand, in Hughes' words, "genesis of life itself". Despite its lofty principles, in the early days it was generally viewed as largely a tax haven for Hughes' huge personal fortune. Hughes was the sole trustee of HHMI and transferred all his stock of Hughes Aircraft to the institute, in effect turning the large defense contractor into a tax-exempt charity. For many years the Institute grappled with maintaining its non-profit status; the Internal Revenue Service challenged its "charitable" status which made it tax exempt. Partly in response to such claims, starting in the late 1950s it began funding 47 investigators researching at eight different institutions; however, it remained a modest enterprise for several decades. In fact it was not until after Hughes' death in 1976 that the Institute's profile increased from an annual budget of $4 million in 1975 to $15 million by 1978. In this period it refocused its mission on genetics, immunology and the rapidly growing field of molecular biology. Hughes logo adopted after his death Hughes developed the AIM-120 AMRAAM, one of the worlds most advanced air-to-air missiles Hughes Aircraft Company was a major defense/aerospace company founded by Howard Hughes. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... // Events and trends This map shows two essential global spheres during the Cold War in 1959. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... Genetics (from the Greek genno γεννώ= give birth) is the science of genes, heredity, and the variation of organisms. ... Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. ... Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecular level. ...

Since Hughes died without a will as the sole trustee of the HHMI, the Institute was involved in lengthy court proceedings to determine whether it would benefit from Hughes fortune. In 1984, a court appointed new trustees for the institute's holdings. These trustees sold Hughes Aircraft to General Motors and the $5.2 billion proceeds caused the institute to grow dramatically. General Motors Corporation NYSE: GM, also known as GM, is a United States-based automobile maker with worldwide operations and brands including Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Holden, Hummer, Opel, Pontiac, Saturn, Saab and Vauxhall. ...

Currently, the HHMI is involved in building a new research campus in Virginia called Janelia Farm Research Campus [1]. It is modeled after AT&T's Bell Labs and the Medical Research Council's Laboratory of Molecular Biology.

External links

• Howard Hughes Medical Institute website
• 60 Minutes news feature "Howard Hughes: Patron Of Science?"