NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2010

这一行动为2010财年的NSF博士后研究奖学金提供资金。该研究金支持一项题为“为什么我们外祖父母的染色体比我们祖父母的染色体混合得更彻底？“为亚尼夫·布兰德万这项研究的主办机构是加州-戴维斯大学，赞助科学家是格雷厄姆·库普。分离在“混合”遗传信息中起着重要作用，是在群体中产生个体差异的一种机制。 虽然科学家们已经观察到男性和女性在不同程度上混合了他们的染色体，但这种观察的潜在原因和后果尚不清楚。 这项研究使用生物信息学工具，建模方法和新构建的数据库来确定哪些参数（生态，进化，生活史等）。最能预测从人类和其他哺乳动物到鸟类和植物的广泛物种中重组率的性别差异。 公共数据也被纳入最后分析，以获得更广泛的观点在更广泛的物种重组。该奖学金的培训目标包括使用基因组学和信息学工具和复杂的统计分析基础生物学研究。 这项工作的成果正在通过科学出版物、在国家会议上的介绍以及与媒体和记者的交流向公众传播。除了提出和检验多个假设外，拟议的研究还有助于更好地了解分子机制及其对人类健康和生育基本问题的影响。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2010. The fellowship supports a research and training plan entitled "Why are chromosomes from our maternal grandparents more thoroughly mixed than chromosomes from our paternal grandparents?" for Yaniv Brandvain. The host institution for this research is the University of California - Davis, and the sponsoring scientist is Graham Coop.Recombination plays an important role "mixing" up genetic information, and is one mechanism that produces differences among individuals in a population. Although scientists have observed that males and females mix their chromosomes to different extents, the underlying cause(s) and consequences of this observation are unclear. This research uses bioinformatics tools, modeling approaches, and a newly-constructed database to determine which parameters (ecological, evolutionary, life-history, etc.) best predict sex-differences in recombination rates across a broad range of species - from humans and other mammals, to birds and plants. Public data are also being incorporated into the final analysis to gain an even broader view of recombination across a wider number of species.Training goals for this fellowship include use of genomics and informatics tools and complex statistical analysis for basic biology research. The results of this work are being disseminated to the public through scientific publication, presentation at national meetings, and communication with media and journalists. In addition to presenting and testing multiple hypothesis, the proposed research also contributes to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms, and their implications both for basic problems in human health and fertility.