CAREER: The Evolution of Simple Versus Complex Biomechanical Systems

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CAREER: The Evolution of Simple Versus Complex Biomechanical SystemsJeffrey Todd StreelmanGeorgia Institute of TechnologyUnderstanding complexity is a central goal of science. Advances in computation, physics, biology and engineering have engendered a set of design principles that characterize complex systems. Theoretically, systems as varied as the Internet, tropical rainforests, and the proteins within a cell are similarly organized. It has been suggested that complexity is an emergent property of these design principles and that highly complex systems are qualitatively different from simple ones. The distinction between complex and simple systems has been illustrated using biomechanical models that predict force and motion (or kinematic transmission, KT) in the oral jaws of bony fishes. Simple lever models of the lower jaw exhibit a one-to-one relationship between form and function; proportional differences in the lengths of component bones produce proportional differences in KT. By contrast, more complex models of anterior jaw mechanics (called 4-bar linkage systems) show a nonlinear, many-to-one mapping of form to function; multiply shaped 4-bar configurations yield the same KT. Knowledge of how form maps to function is a first step to understand how simple and complex biomechanical systems evolve, yet we know almost nothing about the genetic basis of these systems. This research plan fuses biomechanics and evolutionary genomics in cichlid fishes from Lake Malawi, East Africa to ask how complexity is wired into genomes and whether complex systems have genetic architectures that differ from simpler systems. Research involves post-docs, graduate students, undergraduates (in Biology and Engineering) and high school fellows. The education plan integrates research and teaching around the mechanics of cichlid jaws to foster far-reaching impact outside of the principal investigator's lab. This project will facilitate hands-on learning in math and science among public high school students and teachers from the city of Atlanta, and the general public through interactive exhibits at the Georgia Aquarium.