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

任何被蜜蜂叮咬或手指被玫瑰刺刺伤的人都熟悉生物穿刺术。这项研究的目的是了解是什么构成了生物穿刺器(尖牙、刺、刺等)。太有效了。为了做到这一点，该项目将：1)研究不同的生物工具在刺穿组织时使用多少能量，2)了解能源使用如何影响不同生物群体中刺穿工具设计的进化史。为了实现这些目标，这项研究将把实验与数学分析结合起来，并展示尖牙、脊柱或毒刺的形状，以及它是如何移动的，与被刺穿的材料的性质相互作用，以产生特定类型和数量的损害。这些数据将被用来了解在穿孔过程中能量是如何流动的，并揭示蛇、黄蜂和仙人掌的穿孔能力是如何进化的。对自然界中穿刺术有效性的了解的提高将促进机器人学和生物医学技术的进步，例如开发软机器人的穿刺力，以及更好地了解生物组织在创伤撞击期间是如何受损的。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，将在全国范围内传播。这些材料将整合自然科学和应用科学，并将包括针对一系列教育水平的课程计划和资源。教案将不需要昂贵的材料，并将被翻译成几种语言。针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，规模跨度数量级。这项研究将考察潜在性能的物理原理如何影响生物穿刺术系统的功能和进化。这些系统的多样性使人们能够探索在规模、结构和运动学上不同的有机体是如何进化来克服共同的机械挑战的。考察系统间的共性也能让我们洞察这些挑战背后的物理规律。这项研究将采用实验数据收集和比较分析相结合的方法来实现两个目标：1)对照实验分析将建立一组能量平衡方程，该方程将模拟形态、材料和运动学变量如何影响与生物相关的穿刺力学；2)使用这些模型的比较分析将探索毒蛇、寄生蜂和仙人掌穿刺力学的进化。这些分析的结果将被用来确定支撑多种机械穿透系统进化的共同原理，从而洞察物理学如何影响生命的进化规则。该计划将创建一个可供其他人用于广泛主题的框架，包括确定在猎物捕获系统中具有特殊适应价值的运动学性能变量；研究生物材料中的速率依赖对高冲击期间组织损伤的作用；以及开发用于软机器人的防骨折材料。这一框架还将被用来开发针对一系列教育水平的适应性教学模块。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.