STS Post Doctoral Fellowship: From Morphology to DNA: Metagenomics and its Impacts on Species-Based Conservation Science and Policy

本研究产生了一系列关于真菌学家正在做的工作的观察，以调和生物学和更大的生物多样性保护界的新旧物种概念。真菌学家正在发现只有通过DNA测序才能识别的新物种。该项目采用混合方法、多地点项目方法，跟踪实地、实验室和国际会议环境中的科学家；因为他们遇到，处理，包装，命名，分类，并最终赋予生物学价值的基因序列确定代表独特的生物体和物种。在多个尺度上同时检查知识生产的实践表明，随着生物学家提倡保护真菌多样性的想法，生物科学家和那些专注于物种保护的人之间的紧张关系日益增加。在世界范围内，微生物保护远远落后于植物和动物保护。如果不使用特殊技术，人类无法观察到这些数量迅速增加的物种，是否值得全部或部分加以保护？研究微生物多样性的建构主义方法有可能改变我们对遗传学、科学命名法和生物信息学在生物多样性保护中的作用的理解。具体来说，这项研究建立在自然科学和社会科学之间持续合作的基础上，涉及并贡献了三个领域：真菌学、科学技术研究和地理学。它将(1)建立跨学科学者在微生物学、保护生物学和政策界面工作的培训指南；(2)加强地理学、真菌学、保护生物学等学科间的交流与合作；(3)并就如何在保护政策中使用新的统计和遗传数据提出政策建议。

Description of researchThis research generates a series of observations about the work mycologists are doing to reconcile new and old species concepts within biology and the larger biodiversity conservation community. Mycologists are discovering new species that are only identified through DNA sequencing. Using a mixed methods, multi-sited project approach, this project follows scientists in the field, the laboratory, and at international conference settings; as they encounter, process, package, name, classify, and ultimately give biological value to the genetic sequences determined to represent unique organisms and species. Examining the practices of knowledge production simultaneously at multiple scales shows increasing points of tension between the biological scientists and those focused on species conservation as the biologists promote the idea of preserving fungal diversity.. Microbial conservation lags far behind floral and faunal conservation worldwide. Is it worth preserving all or some of this rapidly increasing numbers of species that are not observable to humans without the use of special technologies?. Broader Impact A constructivist approach to microbial diversity has the potential to transform our understanding of the roles of genetics, scientific nomenclature, and bioinformatics in biodiversity conservation. Specifically, this research builds on an ongoing collaboration across the natural and social sciences, and engages with and contributes to three fields: mycology, science and technology studies, and geography. It will (1) establish training guidelines for interdisciplinary scholars to work at the interface of microbiology, conservation biology, and policy; (2) increase interdisciplinary cross-talk and collaboration among disciplines of geography, mycology, and conservation biology; (3) and generate policy recommendations about how to use new kinds of statistical and genetic data in conservation policy.