REU Site: Genomics and Computational Biology

本网站由国防部与NSF REU项目合作提供支持。基因组学和计算生物学的实践研究将在每年夏天将10名参与者带到佐治亚大学(UGA)，为期10周。学生从代表性不足的群体中在全国范围内招募，并将与一个成熟的跨学科团队互动，该团队致力于确定基本过程的生物回路，并通过将其与基因组学数据相匹配来验证这些生物回路。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拆解生命系统，直到他们能够确定许多生物的完整基因蓝图。新千年的挑战是“重组碎片”，即从基因组转移到生命。重新组装这些碎片的一种方法是借用计算机科学的一个比喻：描述细胞活动的整个化学反应网络就是一个生物电路。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，并通过将它们与描述细胞活动的基因组数据相匹配来验证这些生物电路。该项目已经运作了6年多，过去有63多名参与者。学生们得到津贴，住房和膳食援助，研究用品，以及往返实验室的路费。如需更多信息，学生应联系乔纳森·阿诺德博士，电子邮件：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.