RCN: Buildig an Organismal Systems-type Modeling Network - OSyM

生物学的一个核心谜题是，动物如何在对不断变化的环境做出反应的同时，维持无数复杂的生命功能。这包括动物在发育过程中如何维持其所有组成系统（例如神经系统、肌肉和骨骼系统等）的功能。这也包括动物在整个生命周期和整个进化过程中对环境的反应。了解这些反应背后的机制是生物学上的一个重大挑战。这些信息不仅是对生物系统的基本理解所必需的，而且还因为我们预测使动物适应环境变化的特征的能力还很不发达。预测动物对环境变化的反应至关重要。在世界各地，这种变化正在影响许多动物物种，包括那些人类依赖膳食蛋白质、作物授粉和生态系统服务的动物物种。人口增长、栖息地破坏和破碎化、海洋酸化和环境变化带来的前所未有的压力正在迅速改变动物生存的环境，了解和预测动物将如何应对至关重要。这个项目将汇集生物学家、工程师和数学家来回答这些问题。此外，该项目将为科学家，特别是那些在这些领域代表性不足的科学家，提供参加研讨会和参与研究交流计划的机会。动物是在多个空间和时间尺度上运作的相互关联的元素（模块）的复杂系统。发现使动物对变化有弹性或敏感的系统级属性对生物学来说是一个巨大的挑战。了解这些属性和控制它们的潜在机制对于预测动物如何对内部和外部环境的短期和长期变化作出反应是必要的。然而，传统的生物学方法不足以完成这项任务。通过结合其他学科的工具，特别是应用数学、工程和建模，可以取得重大进展，但是，需要在这些不同领域的所有专业水平上进行交叉培训和促进合作的机制。有机系统型建模（OSyM）网络的创建将：1)提供机制，以建立和扩大有机生物学家、数学家、建模师、计算机科学家和工程师的社区，使用综合的、系统级的方法来研究有机动物系统的稳定性和变化；2)促进有效合作的发展，并在这个社区之间交流方法、技能和思想。OSyM将促进发现和理解，同时通过研究交流和研讨会促进各级研究人员的培训和学习，特别是来自STEM领域中代表性不足的群体的研究人员。发展对复杂功能和有机生物学许多方面的相互作用的定量理解需要开发新的数学和工程工具。通过让工程师、数学家、建模师和生物学家共同努力解决复杂的问题，这些领域将取得进展，可能会导致新的生物启发设备、材料和应用的发展。该奖项由生理机制和生物力学以及综合生物系统部门的综合生态生理学项目共同资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

A central mystery in biology is how animals maintain the myriad of complex functions of life, while responding to changing environments. This includes how animals maintain function of all of their component systems (for example the nervous system, muscle and skeletal systems, and others) through development. This also includes how animals respond to their environments throughout their lifetimes and across evolutionary time. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie these responses is a major challenge in biology. This information is not only needed for a basic understanding of biological systems, but also because our ability to predict the features that make animals resilient or inflexible to changing environments is poorly developed. Predicting how animals will respond to environmental change is critical. Around the world this change is impacting many animal species, including those that humans depend on for dietary protein, crop pollination, and ecosystem services. The unprecedented pressures from expanding human populations, habitat destruction and fragmentation, ocean acidification, and environmental change are rapidly changing the environment in which animal species live and understanding and predicting how animals will respond is critical. This project will bring together biologists, engineers, and mathematicians to answer these questions. In addition, this project will provide opportunities for scientists, especially those typically underrepresented in these fields, to attend workshops and participate in research exchange programs. Animals are complex systems of interconnected elements (modules) operating at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Discovering systems-level attributes that make animals resilient or sensitive to change presents a grand challenge for biology. Knowledge of these attributes and the underlying mechanisms controlling them are necessary for predicting how animals will respond to short- and long-term changes in internal and external environments. However, traditional approaches in biology are inadequate for the task. Significant advances can be made by incorporating tools from other disciplines, particularly applied mathematics, engineering, and modelling, but, mechanisms are needed for cross-training and facilitating collaborations at all professional levels among these diverse fields. The creation of the Organismal Systems-type Modeling (OSyM) Network will: 1) Provide mechanisms to build and broaden the community of organismal biologists, mathematicians, modellers, computer scientists, and engineers using integrative, systems-level approaches to investigate stability and change in organismal animal systems and 2) Facilitate development of effective collaborations and the exchange of approaches, skills, and ideas among this community. OSyM will advance discovery and understanding while promoting training and learning through research exchanges and workshops for researchers at all levels, especially those from groups underrepresented in STEM fields. Developing a quantitative understanding of the complex functions and interactions of many aspects of organismal biology requires development of new mathematical and engineering tools. By having engineers, mathematicians, modellers, and biologists working together to solve complex problems, advances will be made in each of these fields, likely leading to development of new bio-inspired devices, materials, and applications.This award was co-funded by the Physiological Mechanisms and Biomechanics and the Integrative Ecological Physiology Programs within the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.