PHILADELPHIA — Nancy Bonini, Gideon Dreyfuss and Beatrice H. Hahn of the University of Pennsylvania have been elected members of the National Academy of Sciences, considered one of the highest honors that can be accorded a U.S. scientist or engineer.

Cited for “their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research,” the three scientists are part of the 2012 Academy class of 84 members and 21 foreign associates.

Nancy Bonini is Lucille B. Williams Professor of Biology in the School of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Biology and an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.  Bonini’s research relies on the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster to identify genes that play crucial roles in human brain disease.

Gideon Dreyfuss is Isaac Norris Professor in the Perelman School of Medicine’s Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics and is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. His work examines how RNA and associated proteins function in degenerative diseases.

Beatrice H. Hahn is a professor in the departments of Medicine and Microbiology in the Perelman School of Medicine. She studies the origins, evolution and disease mechanisms of human and simian immunodeficiency viruses.

A complete list of the 2012 Academy members is at http://www.nasonline.org/news-and-multimedia/news/2012_05_01_NAS_Election.html.