Three irrepressible graduate students are in a race to beat the competition to discover the switch that controls appetite in the human body. The pressure is on, as they each have to deal with their own personal challenges. Rob, a perennial dropout, dares himself to stay the course. Kilpatrick has to choose between the easy life and academic success. Gabriele hovers between high aspirations and self-doubt. Their guide and mentor, Larry, is a young professor deeply committed to passing on the baton of science. He urges his students to apply their creativity to solve problems, while encouraging them to embrace the emotional roller coaster of doing science. Over three years of filming, scenes of intense hands-on research reveal the ups and downs of the mentor-student relationship, the collaboration that science depends on, and the self-knowledge that success requires. Gabriele finally admits that she prefers to work in a team rather than put herself on the line and quits the PhD program. Kilpatrick, having battled Larry to get him through the PhD quickly, takes a job in business. Rob comes close to dropping out, but driven by his passion to make an impact and sustained by Larry's unreserved confidence in him, scores a breakthrough success and discovers himself as a scientist.