OPUS: Geological, Environmental, and Chemical Biology

作品：地质、环境和化学生物学

• 批准号: 0717335
• 负责人: Steven Benner
• 金额: $ 18.52万
• 依托单位: Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-09-01 至 2009-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0717335&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: OPUS; Geological; Environmental; Chemical; Biology

Any system, natural or man-made, can be better understood when its structure and history are considered together. Living systems are not exceptions. Nevertheless, over the past century, the molecules and cells that form the nanoscopic and microscopic structures within organisms have generally been studied separately from the histories of the organisms themselves. This has deprived biology, both as a science and a business central to biotechnology and medicine, of certain power that might come from tools that consider together its molecules, organisms, ecosystems and histories.This NSF OPUS project will exploit recent advances in chemistry, biology and geology, together with two decades of work in Dr. Benner's laboratory, to combine these disciplines in a vertical synthesis. The project will produce tools for the researcher to facilitate this synthesis in the laboratory, including databases that historically organize the human genome, computational tools to detect molecular adaptation, and experimental strategies to test historical hypotheses in the laboratory. The project will also deliver instructional materials for students who wish to participate in this synthesis.Many diseases, including hypertension and diabetes, reflect imperfect adaptation of our genome to rapid changes in the environments experienced by our recent primate ancestors. Many complications of advanced cancers, including those of the evolutionarily "modern" prostate and breast, involve the adaptation of cells via molecular change in response to medical intervention. Much data in molecular biology, from the crystal structures of proteins to the human genome, does not convey any particular meaning in the absence of a historical context. For these and other reasons, the synthesis that will be advanced through this OPUS project should have impact throughout biology, pure and applied.

任何系统，无论是自然的还是人造的，当其结构和历史结合起来考虑时，都可以更好地理解。生命系统也不例外。 然而，在过去的一个世纪里，生物体内形成纳米级和微观结构的分子和细胞通常与生物体本身的历史分开进行研究。这剥夺了生物学作为一门科学和一门生物技术和医学的核心商业的某些力量，这种力量可能来自于综合考虑其分子、有机体、生态系统和历史的工具。这个 NSF OPUS 项目将利用化学、生物学的最新进展和地质学，再加上本纳博士实验室二十年的工作，将这些学科结合起来进行垂直综合。该项目将为研究人员提供在实验室中促进这种合成的工具，包括历史上组织人类基因组的数据库、检测分子适应性的计算工具以及在实验室中测试历史假设的实验策略。该项目还将为希望参与这一综合的学生提供教学材料。许多疾病，包括高血压和糖尿病，反映了我们的基因组对我们最近的灵长类祖先所经历的环境快速变化的不完美适应。晚期癌症的许多并发症，包括进化上“现代”的前列腺癌和乳腺癌的并发症，都涉及细胞通过分子变化来适应医疗干预。分子生物学中的许多数据，从蛋白质的晶体结构到人类基因组，在没有历史背景的情况下并不能传达任何特定的含义。出于这些和其他原因，通过该 OPUS 项目推进的合成应该对整个生物学、纯粹生物学和应用生物学产生影响。