Functional Phylogenies

功能系统发育

基本信息

批准号：
EP/H046917/1
负责人：
Nick Jones
金额：
$ 3.5万
依托单位：
University of Oxford
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2010
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2010 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FH046917%2F1
关键词：
Functional Phylogenies

项目摘要

We now regularly use the genetic sequences of different creatures to make guesses about their common ancestors. A creature's genetic sequence is a long string of symbols. But how can we discuss common ancestors if, instead of knowing strings of symbols about each creature, we only have information about their shapes? Though this is a particularly difficult situation, it is very common. Many objects in the world around us evolve and change their shape but do not have a genetic sequence. For example, the shapes of consumer items, from toothbrushes to cars, are under continual shape evolution but no-one supposes they have genomes. The challenge of making inferences about the past evolution of shapes, and of making guesses about which shapes have recent ancestors in common, is well established. The standard approach to this challenge is to extract sets of numbers that describe the shapes of interest and to use these summary sets to make guesses about the past. This proposal takes a different approach. We aim to develop mathematical techniques that use the shapes themselves, rather than summaries of them, to make inferences about the past. This approach has some advantages: it uses more of the information that we have; it allows us to characterize the process that yields shape evolution; and it allows us to make guesses about the shapes of unseen ancestors (rather than guesses about a restricted set of their features).This proposal aims to advance the study of shape evolution by considering the evolution of mathematical functions. A functional phylogeny is akin to a genetic evolutionary tree where it is a mathematical function, rather than a genetic sequence, that changes through time. We will test our theory by: using computer generated data; performing `Spatial Chinese Whispers' experiments; and investigating how the pronunciation of words has evolved in Romance languages. Our `Spatial Chinese Whispers' experiments will involve the task of drawing curves, one after the other, so that small errors in copying yield a slow drift in curve shape. Our investigation of speech sound evolution first converts the sounds of modern speakers into shapes and then exploits the fact that we are confident about the evolutionary tree of Romance languages. Just as information about current genetic sequences allow us to make guesses about the sequences of past organisms, this approach might allow us to test hypotheses about the sounds of languages we can no longer hear.This work has relevance to those interested in designing shapes for the future, as well as those interested in past shapes. By understanding past shape evolution one can use this to generate reasonable shape transformations which might help in product design. This work aims to take sets of shapes and to make guesses about which is most related to which: this can be very useful in areas which have nothing to do with shape evolution. The ability to detect unusual or familiar shapes has relevance to numerous public and commercial challenges from spotting unusual vehicles to guessing the shapes of letters.

我们现在经常使用不同生物的基因序列来猜测它们的共同祖先。生物的基因序列是一长串符号。但是，如果我们不了解每种生物的一串符号，而只了解它们的形状，那么我们如何讨论共同的祖先呢？虽然这是一个特别困难的情况，但很常见。我们周围世界中的许多物体都会进化并改变其形状，但没有基因序列。例如，从牙刷到汽车等消费品的形状都在不断演变，但没有人认为它们拥有基因组。推断形状过去的演化，以及猜测哪些形状具有最近的共同祖先，这些挑战都是众所周知的。应对这一挑战的标准方法是提取描述感兴趣形状的数字集，并使用这些摘要集来猜测过去。该提案采用了不同的方法。我们的目标是开发数学技术，利用形状本身而不是形状的总结来推断过去。这种方法有一些优点：它使用了更多我们拥有的信息；它使我们能够描述形状演变的过程；它使我们能够猜测看不见的祖先的形状（而不是猜测其一组有限的特征）。该提案旨在通过考虑数学函数的演化来推进形状演化的研究。功能系统发育类似于遗传进化树，它是随时间变化的数学函数，而不是遗传序列。我们将通过以下方式测试我们的理论：使用计算机生成的数据；进行“空间中国低语”实验；并研究罗曼语言中单词的发音是如何演变的。我们的“空间中国低语”实验将涉及绘制一条又一条曲线的任务，这样复制中的小错误就会导致曲线形状的缓慢漂移。我们对语音进化的研究首先将现代说话者的声音转换成形状，然后利用我们对罗曼语言进化树充满信心的事实。正如有关当前基因序列的信息使我们能够猜测过去生物体的序列一样，这种方法可能使我们能够测试有关我们无法再听到的语言的声音的假设。这项工作与那些对设计形状感兴趣的人相关。未来，以及那些对过去的形状感兴趣的人。通过了解过去的形状演变，人们可以利用它来生成合理的形状变换，这可能有助于产品设计。这项工作的目的是采用一组形状并猜测哪些形状与哪些形状最相关：这在与形状演化无关的领域非常有用。检测不寻常或熟悉形状的能力与许多公共和商业挑战相关，从发现不寻常的车辆到猜测字母的形状。