A Workshop to address the Grand Challenge: How Organisms Walk the Tightrope Between Stability and Change?

应对重大挑战的研讨会：生物体如何在稳定与变化之间走钢丝？

• 批准号: 1243801
• 负责人: Dianna Padilla
• 金额: $ 13.4万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Stony Brook
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-08-01 至 2016-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1243801&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Workshop; address; Grand; Challenge; How

Understanding the complexity of living systems and how they work is a major challenge for biology. At present, we do not understand what properties of complex living systems allow them to be flexible, and change in response to the environment, versus those that cannot change without disrupting the whole system. This is particularly important for organisms that must deal with current and future climate change. For example, many of the processes that are essential for animals to function are temperature dependent. Even small changes in temperature could disrupt development or functioning of individuals, thereby affecting species and systems on which humans depend. Some organisms successfully adapt to environmental change, while others cannot and go extinct. This project will support an important workshop that will be held in November 2012 in Arlington, Virginia. The goals of this workshop are to address this grand challenge question, to identify key research and information needs, and facilitate the collaborations that will be needed to make progress addressing this question. This workshop will bring together scientists from very wide ranging fields who do not normally interact so that they can bring the expertise of their fields to others, build bridges and develop a common language. This effort will allow knowledge and solutions to be transferred, and identify key areas where we need new information that will form the basis of new research that is needed to address these critical questions. To make sure that the best scientists from a broad range of fields are included, there will be a steering committee that will meet in August 2012 in Cold Spring Harbor, NY to select workshop participants, set the specific agenda of the workshop, and communicate with participants beforehand so that they come to the workshop fully prepared for the work at hand. The broader impacts of this workshop include the central focus on this research question that has been identified as a Grand Challenge in Organismal Biology. The workshop and the steering committee will include a diversity of scientists including those from small and large institutions, members of groups underrepresented in the sciences, and a diversity of research areas. This workshop will be used to develop a research agenda to address this important question facing organismal biologists in the 21st century.

了解生命系统的复杂性以及它们是如何工作的，是生物学面临的一个重大挑战。 目前，我们不明白复杂生命系统的哪些特性使它们具有灵活性，并根据环境而变化，而那些在不破坏整个系统的情况下无法改变的系统则无法改变。 这对于必须应对当前和未来气候变化的生物体尤为重要。 例如，许多对动物功能至关重要的过程都依赖于温度。 即使是微小的温度变化也可能破坏个体的发育或功能，从而影响人类所依赖的物种和系统。 有些生物成功地适应了环境的变化，而另一些则不能，并走向灭绝。 该项目将支持2012年11月在弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿举行的一次重要研讨会。 本次研讨会的目标是解决这一重大挑战问题，确定关键的研究和信息需求，并促进合作，将需要取得进展，解决这一问题。 该研讨会将汇集来自广泛领域的科学家，他们通常不会互动，以便他们能够将其领域的专业知识带给他人，建立桥梁并发展共同语言。 这一努力将使知识和解决方案得以转移，并确定我们需要新信息的关键领域，这些新信息将构成解决这些关键问题所需的新研究的基础。 为了确保来自各个领域的最优秀科学家都能参加，将于2012年8月在纽约州冷泉港举行一次指导委员会会议，以挑选研讨会的与会者，确定研讨会的具体议程，并事先与与会者进行沟通，以便他们在参加研讨会时为手头的工作做好充分准备。 这次研讨会的更广泛的影响包括对这个研究问题的中心关注，这个问题已被确定为有机体生物学的一个重大挑战。 讲习班和指导委员会将包括各种各样的科学家，包括来自小型和大型机构的科学家，科学界代表性不足的团体的成员，以及各种各样的研究领域。本次研讨会将被用来制定一个研究议程，以解决这一重要问题所面临的有机体生物学家在21世纪世纪。