Phylogenomics as a tool to infer the Tree of Life and a case study of the environmental footprint of scientific research

系统基因组学作为推断生命之树的工具和科学研究环境足迹的案例研究

• 批准号: 312083-2011
• 负责人: Philippe, Herve
• 金额: $ 4.44万
• 依托单位: Université de Montréal
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2012-01-01 至 2013-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=514881
• 关键词: Phylogenomics; tool; infer; Tree; Life

Biodiversity represents an increasing concern to governments, as demonstrated by the establishment of an Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Yet, our understanding of most aspects relevant to a sustainable economy remains poor. In this proposal, we will improve our knowledge of evolution over long time periods by deciphering the most ancient relationships among extant organisms (eukaryotes - organisms characterized by a nucleus- and prokaryotes). To resolve these difficult questions, we will develop more powerful inference methods and gather larger datasets; in other words we will combine the power of genomics and computational biology. However, this approach depends on resources and generates pollution, hence increasingly contributes to the loss of biodiversity. This seems to contradict the common, yet often implicit, assumption that a better knowledge of biodiversity (e.g. composition, mechanisms, evolution) is key to its protection and management. Therefore, we will start a new research direction to test this knowledge hypothesis by quantifying the environmental footprint of phylogenetic research in the past and in the present, and by studying whether it would be possible to reduce it in the future. Methods of footprint reduction that will not compromise the quality of the scientific output will be sought at technical level (i.e. in the design of experiments) and at the social level (i.e. in the selection of grants and of publications).

生物多样性是各国政府日益关注的问题，生物多样性和生态系统服务政府间平台的建立就证明了这一点。然而，我们对与可持续经济有关的大多数方面的理解仍然很差。在这个提议中，我们将通过破译现存生物（真核生物-以核为特征的生物-和原核生物）之间最古老的关系来提高我们对长期进化的认识。为了解决这些难题，我们将开发更强大的推理方法并收集更大的数据集;换句话说，我们将联合收割机结合基因组学和计算生物学的力量。然而，这种方法依赖于资源，并产生污染，因此日益造成生物多样性的丧失。这似乎与一个常见的、但往往是隐含的假设相矛盾，即更好地了解生物多样性（例如组成、机制、演变）是保护和管理生物多样性的关键。因此，我们将开始一个新的研究方向，通过量化过去和现在的系统发育研究的环境足迹，并研究未来是否有可能减少它来验证这一知识假设。将在技术层面（即在实验设计方面）和社会层面（即在赠款和出版物的选择方面）寻求不影响科学产出质量的减少足迹的方法。