Collaborative Research: UBM Group: Synthetic Biology Research for Undergraduates (SyBR-U)

我们这个时代的许多最深刻的科学发现都是由研究团队在传统科学学科的交叉点上做出的。至关重要的是，未来的科学家必须精通多个学科，并有能力合作。戴维森学院和密苏里州西部州立大学将通过让本科生从事令人兴奋的合成生物学新领域来培养他们在数学和生物学的交界处工作。合成生物学提供了丰富的跨学科研究问题，国际基因工程机器竞赛(IGEM)为本科生参与合成生物学研究提供了一个焦点。戴维森和密苏里州西部大学的学生和教职员工将合作进行开创性的工作，设计、建模和制造细菌计算机，以解决数学问题，如按反向排序(所谓的煎饼问题)、哈密尔顿路径问题和经典的旅行推销员问题。这些活着的计算机将由标准生物部件注册表中现有的和新的部件组成，标准生物部件注册表是全球合成生物界使用的越来越多的基于DNA的元件集合。合成生物学的新兴领域将数学和分子生物学结合起来，设计和构建基于DNA的设备，并在能源、医学和技术中应用。通过让学生参与原创研究，本科生合成生物学研究(SYBR-U)计划将推进这一重要的跨学科领域，同时满足培养未来研究科学家在数学和生物学的交叉点合作的迫切需要。学生将在大一的春季学期被录取，并在大三的秋季学期继续参与该项目。每个参与者都将参加数学和生物课程，并参加每周一次的团队会议，通过视频会议将两个校区连接起来。在这种协作研究环境中获得经验后，学生们将在iGEM Camboree上与来自世界各地的本科生研究人员一起展示他们的工作。通过将跨学科培训视为本科教育的基础而不是顶峰，SYBR-U项目创造了一种新的模式，本科教育社区可以用来吸引和培训未来的研究人员，他们是未来科学发现的管理者。

Many of the most profound scientific discoveries of our time are made at the intersections of traditional scientific disciplines by teams of researchers. It is critical that scientists of the future be conversant in multiple disciplines and capable of working collaboratively. Davidson College and Missouri Western State University will train undergraduate students to work at the interface of mathematics and biology by engaging them in the exciting new field of synthetic biology. Synthetic biology offers a rich supply of inherently interdisciplinary research problems, and the international Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) competition provides a focal point for undergraduate participation in synthetic biology research. Students and faculty at Davidson and Missouri Western will collaborate on groundbreaking efforts to design, model, and build bacterial computers to solve mathematical problems such as sorting by reversals (the so-called Pancake Problem), the Hamiltonian Path Problem, and the classic Traveling Salesperson Problem. These living computers will be constructed from existing and novel parts in the Registry of Standard Biological Parts, a growing collection of DNA-based elements used by the global synthetic biology community. The emerging field of synthetic biology combines mathematics with molecular biology to design and construct DNA-based devices with applications in energy, medicine, and technology. By engaging students in original research, the Synthetic Biology Research for Undergraduates (SyBR-U) program will advance this important new interdisciplinary field while addressing the critical need to train future research scientists to work collaboratively at the intersection of mathematics and biology. Students will be recruited in the spring semester of their freshman year, and remain involved with the program through the fall semester of their junior year. Each participant will take courses in both mathematics and biology and attend weekly team meetings in which the two campuses are linked by videoconference. After gaining experience in this collaborative research environment, students will present their work alongside undergraduate researchers from around the world at the iGEM Jamboree. By treating interdisciplinary training as the foundation rather than the pinnacle of undergraduate education, the SyBR-U program creates a new model that the undergraduate educational community can use to attract and train future researchers, the stewards of tomorrow's scientific discoveries.