Workshop: From genes to behavior: Functional genetic tools in diverse organisms, Knoxville, Tennessee, July 30 to 3 August, 2020

组成一个生物体基因组的千兆碱基DNA是如何最终产生一个具有动态的、与物种相适应的行为能力的动物的？研究DNA差异如何影响物种内和物种间的行为，对神经科学、进化、行为生态学和精神病学都是一个至关重要的问题。然而，解决行为遗传基础的实验手段传统上仅限于少数实验室可适应的物种，导致关注这些动物表现出的少数行为，而其他物种表现出的行为丰富性仍然难以解决。然而，随着新的功能遗传方法的出现，传统的技术障碍正在消失。随着这种情况的发生，一个新的挑战出现了：如何最好地将这些技术带给那些专注于研究自然行为的研究人员。本次研讨会解决了将功能遗传学家与对各种行为问题感兴趣的生物学家聚集在一起开发新方法来操纵基因组的需要。通过将新开发的敏捷功能遗传工具广泛传播给具有神经行为学和行为生态学专业知识的研究人员，我们将促进行为遗传基础研究的下一个创新时代。组织团队将协调一个研讨会，在2020年动物行为学会会议上主持。这个年度会议吸引了不同的研究人员在实验室和现场进行行为研究，并采用从分子方法到人口观察的方法。组织者将重点介绍基因技术的关键进展，这些进展使基因组能够跨物种光谱进行表型图谱绘制。我们的目标是让研究不同物种行为的遗传根源的生物学家能够使用这些新兴技术。通过整合通过基因组工具（EDGE）计划资助的研究人员，他们在哺乳动物，鸟类，昆虫，两栖动物和鱼类中工作，我们将提供遗传操作方法的广泛概述，特别强调如何使用这些工具来调查行为的遗传根源以及在不同物种中实施这些工具的挑战。会谈和随后的分组讨论的目标将是提供知识和工具，以设想功能性遗传工具的新用途，无论是直接使用还是通过合作使用。虽然不是每个物种或问题都适用于功能遗传学方法，但研讨会将为广泛的与会者提供服务，他们有兴趣熟悉这些技术，获得批判性评估新兴文献的能力，并有可能建立新的实验方法作为他们研究计划的一部分。此外，组织团队期望与会者和演讲者之间的讨论将有助于指导未来的技术创新并激发新的实验想法。最后，更广泛的影响将集中在整合来自不同背景的与会者和讨论将功能基因技术纳入课堂设置的策略。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。

How do the gigabases of DNA that make up an organism’s genome ultimately yield an animal capable of dynamic, species-appropriate behaviors? The investigation of how DNA differences shape behavior within and across species remains a question of central importance to neuroscience, evolution, behavioral ecology, and psychiatry. Yet, the experimental means to address the genetic basis of behavior have traditionally been limited to a handful of laboratory-amenable species, resulting in focus on a handful of behaviors exhibited by these animals while the behavioral richness exhibited by other species remained intractable. However, with the advent of novel functional genetic approaches, traditional technical barriers are dissolving. As this happens, a new challenge emerges: how to best bring these technologies to the researchers who focus their efforts on studying natural behavior. This workshop addresses the need to bring together functional geneticists developing novel methods to manipulate the genome with biologists interested in diverse behavioral questions. By enabling the widespread dissemination of newly developed, agile functional genetic tools to researchers with expertise in neuroethology and behavioral ecology, we will facilitate the next era of innovation in the study of the genetic basis of behavior.The organizing team will coordinate a workshop, hosted at the 2020 Animal Behavior Society Meeting. This annual meeting engages diverse researchers pursuing the study of behavior in the lab and the field, and employing methods ranging from molecular approaches to population observations. The organizers will highlight key advances in genetic technologies that enable genome to phenome mapping across the species spectrum. Our goal will be to make these emerging technologies accessible to biologists studying the genetic roots of behavior in diverse species. By incorporating researchers funded through the Enabling Discovery through GEnomic Tools (EDGE) program who work in mammals, birds, insects, amphibians, and fish, we will provide a broad overview of approaches for genetic manipulation with special emphasis on how these tools can be employed to investigate the genetic roots of behavior and the challenges of implementing them in diverse species. The goal of the talks and subsequent break-out groups will be to provide the knowledge and tools to envision new uses of functional genetic tools, either directly or through collaboration. While not every species or question will be amenable to functional genetic approaches, the workshop will serve a wide range of attendees interested in becoming familiar with these technologies, gaining the ability to critically evaluate the emerging literature, and potentially instituting novel experimental approaches as part of their research program. Further, the organizing team anticipates that the discussion generated among the attendees and presenters will help guide future technology innovations and spark novel experimental ideas. Finally, the broader impacts will focus on incorporating attendees from diverse background and discussing strategies for incorporating functional genetic technologies in a classroom setting.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.