A Workshop to address the Grand Challenge: How Organisms Walk the Tightrope Between Stability and Change?

应对重大挑战的研讨会：生物体如何在稳定与变化之间走钢丝？

• 批准号: 1243801
• 负责人: Dianna Padilla
• 金额: $ 13.4万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Stony Brook
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-08-01 至 2016-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1243801&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Workshop; address; Grand; Challenge; How

Understanding the complexity of living systems and how they work is a major challenge for biology. At present, we do not understand what properties of complex living systems allow them to be flexible, and change in response to the environment, versus those that cannot change without disrupting the whole system. This is particularly important for organisms that must deal with current and future climate change. For example, many of the processes that are essential for animals to function are temperature dependent. Even small changes in temperature could disrupt development or functioning of individuals, thereby affecting species and systems on which humans depend. Some organisms successfully adapt to environmental change, while others cannot and go extinct. This project will support an important workshop that will be held in November 2012 in Arlington, Virginia. The goals of this workshop are to address this grand challenge question, to identify key research and information needs, and facilitate the collaborations that will be needed to make progress addressing this question. This workshop will bring together scientists from very wide ranging fields who do not normally interact so that they can bring the expertise of their fields to others, build bridges and develop a common language. This effort will allow knowledge and solutions to be transferred, and identify key areas where we need new information that will form the basis of new research that is needed to address these critical questions. To make sure that the best scientists from a broad range of fields are included, there will be a steering committee that will meet in August 2012 in Cold Spring Harbor, NY to select workshop participants, set the specific agenda of the workshop, and communicate with participants beforehand so that they come to the workshop fully prepared for the work at hand. The broader impacts of this workshop include the central focus on this research question that has been identified as a Grand Challenge in Organismal Biology. The workshop and the steering committee will include a diversity of scientists including those from small and large institutions, members of groups underrepresented in the sciences, and a diversity of research areas. This workshop will be used to develop a research agenda to address this important question facing organismal biologists in the 21st century.

了解生命系统的复杂性及其工作方式是生物学的主要挑战。 目前，我们不了解复杂的生活系统的哪些属性使它们具有灵活性，并且对环境的响应发生了变化，而在不破坏整个系统的情况下无法改变的属性。 这对于必须处理当前和未来气候变化的生物尤其重要。 例如，动物功能至关重要的许多过程取决于温度。 即使温度的小变化也可能破坏个人的发展或功能，从而影响人类依赖的物种和系统。 一些生物可以成功地适应环境变化，而另一些生物则无法灭绝。 该项目将支持将于2012年11月在弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿举行的重要研讨会。 该研讨会的目标是解决这个重大的挑战问题，以确定关键的研究和信息需求，并促进为解决这个问题而取得进展所需的合作。 这个研讨会将使来自非常广泛的领域的科学家聚集在一起，他们通常不会互动，以便他们可以将其领域的专业知识带给他人，建造桥梁并发展一种通用语言。 这项工作将允许转移知识和解决方案，并确定我们需要新信息的关键领域，这些信息将构成解决这些关键问题所需的新研究的基础。 为了确保包括各种领域的最好的科学家，将有一个指导委员会将于2012年8月在纽约州冷泉港举行会议，以选择研讨会的参与者，设定研讨会的具体议程，并事先与参与者进行交流，以便他们能够为工作室做好准备。 该研讨会的更广泛影响包括对这个研究问题的核心重点，该研究已被确定为有机生物学中的巨大挑战。 研讨会和指导委员会将包括各种各样的科学家，包括来自小型和大型机构的科学家，科学中代表性不足的团体的成员以及各种各样的研究领域。该研讨会将用于制定研究议程，以解决21世纪有机体生物学家面临的这一重要问题。