CAREER: Getting to the Point: Exploring How Energetics Influences the Evolution of Biological Puncture Systems Across Phyla

任何被蜜蜂蜇过或被玫瑰刺扎过手指的人都熟悉生物穿刺。这项研究的目的是了解是什么使生物穿刺工具（尖牙，刺，刺等）。如此有效。为了做到这一点，该项目将：1）研究不同的生物工具使用多少能量来穿刺组织，2）看看能量的使用如何影响各种生物群体中穿刺工具设计的进化历史。为了实现这些目标，该研究将联合收割机实验与数学分析相结合，并显示尖牙、刺或刺的形状，沿着它是如何移动的，如何与被刺穿的材料的性质相互作用，以产生特定种类和数量的伤害。这些数据将用于了解穿刺过程中的能量流动，并揭示蛇、黄蜂和仙人掌的穿刺能力是如何进化的。对自然界中穿刺有效性的进一步了解将促进机器人和生物医学技术的进步，例如开发软机器人的抗穿刺性，以及更好地了解生物组织在创伤性冲击中如何受损。研究人员将培训本科生和研究生，并与当地教师合作开发一套教育模块，并在全国范围内推广。这些材料将综合自然科学和应用科学，并将包括针对各级教育的课程计划和资源。课程计划将不需要昂贵的材料，并将被翻译成几种语言。穿刺是生物领域中广泛存在的防御和攻击机制，在许多门中都有例子，规模跨越几个数量级。这项研究将探讨如何物理原理的性能影响的功能和进化的生物穿刺系统。这些系统的多样性允许探索在规模，结构和运动学上不同的生物体如何进化以克服共同的机械挑战。检查系统之间的共性也可以深入了解这些挑战背后的物理定律。本研究将采用实验数据收集和对比分析相结合的方法，以实现两个目标：1）受控实验分析将建立一组能量平衡方程，模拟形态，材料和运动学变量如何影响生物相关的穿刺力学; 2）使用模型进行对比分析，探索毒蛇，寄生蜂和仙人掌穿刺力学的演变。这些分析的结果将用于确定多个机械穿刺系统进化的共同原则，从而深入了解物理学如何影响生命的进化规则。该计划将创建一个框架，可供其他人用于广泛的主题，包括识别猎物捕获系统中具有特定适应价值的运动学性能变量;检查生物材料在高冲击期间对组织损伤的速率依赖性的作用;以及开发用于软机器人的抗断裂材料。该奖项反映了NSF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。

Anyone who has had a bee sting or pricked their finger on a rose thorn is familiar with biological puncture. The objective of this research is to understand what makes biological puncturing tools (fangs, spines, stingers, etc.) so effective. To do this, the project will: 1) study how much energy different biological tools use to puncture tissue, and 2) see how energy use has influenced the evolutionary history of puncturing tool design in various living groups. To accomplish these goals, the research will combine experiments with mathematical analyses, and show how a fang, spine or stinger’s shape, along with how it is moved, interacts with the nature of the material that is punctured to produce specific kinds and amounts of damage. These data will be used to understand how energy flows during puncture and uncover how puncturing ability evolved in snakes, wasps, and cacti. Improved knowledge of the effectiveness of puncture in nature will facilitate advances in robotics and biomedical technology, such as developing puncture resistance in soft robots and better understanding of how biological tissue is damaged during traumatic impacts. The researchers will train undergraduate and graduate students, and develop a suite of educational modules in partnership with local teachers that will be disseminated across the country. These materials will integrate natural and applied sciences and will include lesson plans and resources aimed at a range of educational levels. Lesson plans will not require expensive materials, and will be translated into several languages.Puncture is a widespread mechanism of both defense and attack in the biological realm, with examples found in many phyla, spanning orders of magnitude in scale. This research will examine how the physical principles underlying performance influence the function and evolution of biological puncture systems. The diversity of these systems allows exploration of how organisms that differ in scale, structure and kinematics have evolved to overcome common mechanical challenges. Examining commonalities across systems also gives insight into the physical laws that underlie those challenges. This research will employ a combination of experimental data collection and comparative analyses to achieve two aims: 1) controlled experimental analyses will establish a set of energy balance equations that model how morphological, material and kinematic variables influence biologically-relevant puncture mechanics, and 2) comparative analyses using the models will explore the evolution of puncture mechanics in venomous snakes, parasitoid wasps and cacti. Results of these analyses will be used to identify common principles that underlie the evolution of multiple mechanical puncture systems, and thus give insight into how physics influences the evolutionary rules of life. This program will create a framework that can be used by others for a broad range of topics, including identifying kinematic performance variables of particular adaptive value in prey capture systems; examining the role of rate-dependency in biological materials on tissue damage during high impact; and developing fracture resistant materials for soft robotics. This framework will also be used to develop adaptable teaching modules aimed at a range of educational levels.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.