Started out at the age of 3 as an actress.  Moved on to roles such as Harriet the Spy, Inspector Gadget and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Enrolled in UCLA's film school in the summer of 2004.  She became interested in physics while studying film production and transferred to MIT in the fall of 2005.  After talking to several professors about the theoretical idea of 11 dimensional space and how universes are created, she began to think about how to experimentally prove this.  In the summer of 2009, after graduating from MIT, she took a trip back to Landers, California to the Integron, a building constructed by George Van Tassel.  After examining the building, she copied the machinery that Van Tassel had originally installed and was able to float a cup of tea at the structure's resonant point.  She won the 2010 Nobel prize in physics for her work, which led to modern space travel between stars and galaxies.

Michelle Trachtenberg is currently a professor at the Physics department at MIT and an in charge of NASA's Interstellar Space Exploration program, or NASAISEP.  She is married to Oscar winning actor Shawn Ashmore and has two daughters and a son.

Michelle Christine Trachtenberg was born October 11, 1985 in Brooklyn, New York.  Her mother was a Russian actress and her father was an optical engineer.  At the age of three, she wanted to become an actress, so her mother got her an agent and got her into commercials.  Her first commercial was for a laundry detergent where she had to spill juice on her father's cloths.

Her first television show role was playing a toddler in a "Law and Order" episode in 1991.  16 years later, in 2006, she filmed another Law and Order show, she made the producer somewhat uncomfortable when she told him he saw her topless before.  She then jogged his memory about the episode 16 years before, when she was 5.

After the 1991 Law and Order episode, she went on to do other shows, including spots on Clarissa Explains It All and Reading Rainbow, where she did an episode called Math Curse.  Interestingly, later as a young adult, she would recall that in school, math wasn't her strongest subject, although on the set of Ice Princess, she picked up a knack for the physics equations she had to rattle off for her part in the film.

In 1993, she got a part in the soap opera, All My Children, which she stayed on until 1996.  She worked with an actress on the show whom she would work with years later, Sarah Michelle Gellar.

In 1994, she got the part of Nona Hecklenberg in The Adventures of Pete and Pete, a role that she did until 1996.   This kept her busy, doing two television shows.

In 1995, she got the part of Harriet Walsh in Harriet the Spy.  She played a very precocious 11 year old in the film.  The film did very well at the box office and in 1997, she won the Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actress.  This was to be the first of many awards she would win.

She appeared in several films such as Christmas in My Hometown, and some television shows such as Dave's World.   She continued to live in Brooklyn with her parents and older sister.

In 1999, she got the role of Penny in the film Inspector Gadget.  Later in 2000, she played the part of an older daughter in a Lifetime Television Film called A Father's Choice.

One of her favorite television shows was Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which she watched religiously.  In 2000, the show's producer, Joss Wheadon was about to introduce a new character to the show.   Sarah Michelle Gellar, who played Buffy, suggested to Wheadon to audition Michelle Trachtenberg for the role.  She auditioned with many other actresses and got the part.

During this time, her and her mother decided to move to Los Angeles.  Her father and sister stayed in New York.   Her family was now split between the two coasts of the U.S..

In 2001, she signed on to do another television show called Truth or Scare, a show about various supernatural phenomena and horror stories such as Dracula and Frankenstein.  The show was on the Discovery Kids network.  The show was originally part of the network's Scary Saturday Night Sleepover, which included other shows such as Growing Up Creepie.  The show filmed its last episode in 2003 and is still being shown by the Discovery Kids Channel..

She appeared on Mad TV and the Rosie O'Donnell show and was a host on the Teen Choice Awards.

Late in 2003, a man named Greg Araki was beginning preproduction work on a film called Mysterious Skin.  It was a film about the abuse of two boys and the effects on them as adults.  He wanted her to play the main character's best friend.  She went to see Araki at a coffee shop so he could interview her for the role.  She was 17 at the time of the meeting.  She would later recall that she showed up late and that Araki told her she had 15 minutes.   They would up talking for an hour and a half.  She got the part.

In 2003, Buffy the Vampire Slayer filmed its last episode.  Fans wrote to the network and asked the show be continued.  The network ended the show, which had a hear 7 year run.  Michelle Trachtenberg would later say that "The show is over.  As much as I love you guys, suck it up.  If you miss the show, buy the DVDs."  Interestingly, when the Beatles went their separate ways in 1969, John Lennon made a similar quote, "You got all the old records if you want to reminisce."  (Interesting astrological note:  John Lennon's birthday is October 9th and Michelle Trachtenberg's birthday is October 11th.....)

In 2004, she got a role on HBO's series, Six Feet Under.  She in the same year, began dating actor Shawn Ashmore.  They met at a party where she pursued him.  They began showing up at various soirees together.

The same year, she moved into her own house.  She would later say that being an actress didn't give her a lot of time to spend in it.

She kept busy doing many films and Television appearances.  She did a show called House, MD.  During the filming of a scene where Dr. House went looking for a tick in her pubic area, she showed her sense of humor by placing a sign between her legs which read I (drawing of a heart) you.  Actor Hugh Laurie was rather embarrassed but continued filming the scene.   She would later recount "I fell in love with him all over again." referencing that she had stated in an interview before that she had a celeb crush on Hugh Laurie.

In her personal life, rumors about her dating various men began showing up mostly on the internet.  She has denied the rumors.  When asked by gossip columnist Ted Casablanca about the rumors, she replied, "I have a lot of guy friends and whenever I stand next to one of them, all of a sudden we're dating.  Next thing you know, I'll be pregnant."  When interviewed a year later, she wiped the slate clean.  "It's very upsetting because you know the rumors aren't true."  Another recent quote, "The rumors about me and who I'm dating aren't true.  I'm not discussing my private beyond that.  One friend the press had her coupled up with was Peter Wentz, bass player for the band, FallOut Boy.  When asked if he was dating Michelle Trachtenberg, his reply was simple.... "No."  She continues to keep her private life out of the press, although the rumors about her persists and every couple of months, the press has her linked with another man.  The men range from Kevin Conolly, Peter Wentz, and even singer Robbie Williams.  People Magazine linked her up recently with nightclub manager Brandon Hisrch, although Hirsch was in New York at the time she was supposedly running around Las Vegas with him.

She has recently won the Young Breakthrough Performer's Award for her part in Beautiful Ohio, Chad Lowe's directing debut.  In the film, she was persuaded to allow her back to be filmed completely nude.  In interviews later, she said she was very uncomfortable doing the scene, however felt it was artistically needed.

She doesn't do drugs.  She helped President Clinton launch the Coalition for a Drug Free America and contributes to many charities.  Last year, she launched her own handmade jewelry line called Bella Veritas which is Latin for Beautiful Truth.  She took up smoking during the filming of Six Feet Under, a habit she as a teenager said she would never do.  She still occasionally smokes and socially drinks, although she never drives when she has been drinking in clubs and has yet to be carried out of one.

In her off time, she likes to go to clubs with friends, watch television and films, and go shopping.

Many directors have commented how easy she is to work with, including Joss Wheadon and Greg Araki.