REU Site: Genomics and Computational Biology

摘要本网站由美国国防部与美国国家科学基金会REU项目合作支持。基因组学和计算生物学的实践研究每年夏天将带10名参与者到佐治亚大学（UGA）学习10周。学生从全国代表性不足的群体中招募，并将与一个已建立的跨学科团队进行互动，该团队致力于识别基本过程的生物电路，并通过将其与基因组学数据相匹配来验证这些生物电路。自从60年前发现DNA作为遗传物质以来，生物学家一直在越来越精细地分解生命系统，直到他们能够确定许多生物体的完整遗传蓝图。新千年的挑战是“重新组装碎片”，即从基因组转向生命。重组碎片的一种方法是从计算机科学中借用一个比喻：描述细胞行为的整个化学反应网络是一个生物回路。这个基因组学和计算生物学项目的主题是“计算生命”，即识别碳代谢和生物钟等基本过程的生物电路，并通过将这些生物电路与描述细胞活动的基因组学数据相匹配来验证这些生物电路。该项目已经运行了6年多，过去的参与者超过63人。学生将获得助学金、食宿补助、研究用品和往返实验室的旅费。欲了解更多信息，请联系乔纳森·阿诺德博士arnold@uga.edu或访问http://gene.genetics.uga.edu/FGCB。

ABSTRACTThis site is supported by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program. Hands-on research in Genomics and Computational Biology will bring 10 participants each summer to the University of Georgia (UGA) for ten weeks. Students are recruited nationally from underrepresented groups and will interact with an established interdisciplinary team working on identifying biological circuits for fundamental processes and validating these biological circuits by fitting them to genomics data. Since the discovery of DNA as the genetic material 60 years ago, biologists have been taking apart living systems on a finer and finer scale until they have been able to determine the complete genetic blueprint of many organisms. The challenge of the new millennium is "reassembling the pieces", i.e., moving from genomes to life. One approach to reassembling the pieces is to borrow a metaphor from computer science: the entire chemical reaction network describing what a cell does is a biological circuit. The theme for this genomics and computational biology program is "computing life", i.e., identifying biological circuits for fundamental processes like carbon metabolism and the biological clock and validating these biological circuits by fitting them to genomics data describing what the cell is doing.The program has operated for more than 6 years with more than 63 past participants. Students receive a stipend, housing and meal assistance, research supplies, and travel to and from lab. For more information, students should contact Dr. Jonathan Arnold at arnold@uga.edu or visit http://gene.genetics.uga.edu/FGCB.