Excellence in Research: The Visible Ape Project

生物学中的一个主要问题是，微小的基因型差异如何能够支撑解剖学、生理学、发育和行为方面的显著表型差异，就像人类和类人猿之间的差异一样。事实上，尽管我们的外表和行为有很大的不同，但我们与黑猩猩——我们最亲近的类人猿亲戚——有近99%的DNA是相同的。为了研究人类和类人猿之间的基因型-表型关系，需要详细的表型数据，包括解剖学数据。然而，尽管许多科学家和广大公众都对类人猿着迷，但获取和探索类人猿解剖学的资源非常有限。该项目将开发一个全面的、用户友好的、免费的类人猿解剖学资源，即可见类人猿项目（VAP）。该网站和移动/平板电脑应用程序解剖学资源将托管在霍华德大学，以确保数据的长期可用性和可见性，并支持STEM研究和科学传播在历史悠久的黑人大学（HBCU）。VAP将成为宝贵的跨学科资源，并在医学/兽医教育和生物人类学之间建立跨学科联系。VAP还将支持公众对科学的兴趣，进一步引起人们对猿类的关注和认识，猿类在野外的生存受到严重威胁。一些外联活动，包括美国和国际合作研讨会、教育和保护活动，将面向公众、从高中到研究生的学生、研究人员和医学/兽医从业人员。就基因库对基因研究的变革而言，VAP是向改变“表型”迈出的重要一步，因为它提供了与人类解剖学直接相媲美的猿类解剖学综合图像数据资源。特别是，VAP及其与可见人类计划的比较将使研究人员能够解决有关人类和猿类解剖和发育的基因组，发育，进化和功能基础，人体的起源和变化以及使人类独特的特征等基本问题。具体来说，VAP将包括约1,050张标记图像（解剖照片、3D摄影测量、解剖插图、CT/MRI扫描）和每个主要类人猿群体的新生儿和成年黑猩猩的3D模型，以及250多张标记的和10,000张未标记的新生儿和成年黑猩猩的全身和大脑序列切片。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。

One of the major questions in biology is how small genotypic differences can underpin striking phenotypic differences in anatomy, physiology, development, and behavior, like those seen between humans and apes. Indeed, we share nearly 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees, our closest living ape relatives, despite having substantially different appearances and behaviors. In order to study these genotype-phenotype relationships across humans and apes, detailed phenotypic data, including anatomical data, are needed. However, despite a fascination about apes that is shared by many scientists and the broader public, there are very limited resources for accessing and exploring ape anatomy. This project will develop a comprehensive, user-friendly and freely available resource on ape anatomy, the Visible Ape Project (VAP). This website and mobile/tablet app anatomical resource will be hosted at Howard University, to assure long-term availability and visibility of the data and support STEM research and scientific dissemination at a Historically Black University (HBCU). The VAP will serve as a valuable cross-disciplinary resource and create interdisciplinary connections between medical/veterinary education and biological anthropology. The VAP will also support public interest in science, drawing further attention to and awareness of apes, whose continued existence in the wild is seriously threatened. A number of outreach activities, including US and internationally-collaborative workshops, educational, and conservation activities, will reach the public, students from the high school level through graduate levels, and researchers and medical/veterinary practitioners. In the way that GenBank has been transformative for genetic research, the VAP is a major step towards transforming the 'phenome' in terms of providing a resource with comprehensive image data of ape anatomy directly comparable to human anatomy. In particular, the VAP and its comparisons with the Visible Human Project will allow researchers to address fundamental questions about the genomic, developmental, evolutionary and functional bases of human and ape anatomy and development, the origin and variations of the human body, and the features that make humans unique. Specifically, the VAP will include about 1,050 labeled images (dissection photographs, 3D photogrammetry, anatomical illustrations, CT/MRI scans) and 3D models of neonates and adults of each major ape group, as well as more than 250 labeled and 10,000 unlabeled full body and brain serial sections of both neonatal and adult chimps.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.