Excellence in Research: The Visible Ape Project

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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.