NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: Statistical Physics as a Lens to Illuminate the Evolution of the Genetic Code and Aging

该行动为2022财年美国国家科学基金会生物学博士后研究奖学金提供资金，扩大生物学中代表性不足群体的参与。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训计划，该计划将增加在生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。生命系统的复杂性使得关于地球生命历史的通用理论的发展非常具有挑战性。所有的生命系统都使用一种遗传密码，并随着时间的推移而衰老。这个项目将调查遗传密码的起源，以及密码使用方式的变化与衰老的关系。该研究员将使用新的方法来研究可能导致遗传密码早期版本的分子机制，并检查生物衰老背后的进化力量。为了增加在科学领域未被充分代表的群体的参与，研究员将与STEM教育领域的专家合作，为研究员的家乡阿拉斯加乌特基亚维克的学生开发一套基于地方的课程。该课程将融合传统的生态知识、气候科学和现代数据分析方法，以促进中学生对STEM的参与。该研究金的研究将集中在遗传密码和生物衰老的进化起源上，这是地球上生命的两个普遍特征，目前还没有得到很好的理解。该研究员将利用统计物理学和高性能计算模型来研究遗传密码的早期版本是如何从控制早期地球上被认为存在的催化活性分子混合物的相分离的复杂原理中出现的。表观基因组的统计模型也将被开发来研究在衰老过程中发生的表观遗传变化。该研究员将接受尖端计算生物学、课程开发、STEM推广和有效科学传播策略方面的培训。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。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2022, Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology. The Fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. The complexity of living systems makes the development of universal theories about the history of life on Earth very challenging. All living systems use a genetic code and all age with time—this project will investigate the origin of the genetic code and how changes in the way the code is used relate to aging. The Fellow will use new methods to investigate the molecular mechanisms that may have led to an early version of the genetic code and examine the evolutionary forces underlying biological aging. To increase the participation of groups underrepresented in science, the Fellow will collaborate with experts in STEM education to develop a place-based curriculum for students in Utqiagvik, Alaska, the Fellow's hometown. The curriculum will interweave traditional ecological knowledge, climate science, and modern data analysis methodology to foster STEM engagement in middle school children.The research for this Fellowship will focus on the evolutionary origins of the genetic code and biological aging, two universal features of life on Earth that are not well understood. The Fellow will utilize statistical physics and high-performance computational modeling to investigate how an early version of the genetic code may have emerged from the complex principles that govern phase separation in mixtures of catalytically active molecules thought to be present on early Earth. Statistical models of the epigenome also will be developed to investigate epigenetic changes that occur during aging. The Fellow will receive training in cutting-edge computational biology, curriculum development, STEM outreach, and strategies for effective scientific communication.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.