Evolvability of Developmental Mechanisms Workshop

将于2000年8月20日至9月3日在华盛顿大学举行为期两周的研讨班/短期课程。本课程将使学生熟悉生物学家如何使用这些工具来探索发育机制的进化潜力的建模方法和软件。课程的前半部分将涵盖对从事发展演变（EvoDevo）工作的年轻研究者至关重要的背景信息。这将包括：进化论中的主要概念问题；来自化石和形态分析的可进化性证据；利用序列数据推断系统发育；以及发育机制的范例（即相互作用的基因网络）。后半部分将集中于基因网络的建模和使用Ingeneue来做这件事。分子生物学正在提供更详细的发育机制图，作为理解发育的第一步。然而，问题是，这些地图太复杂了，即使对网络很熟悉，人类的直觉和语言也无法预测甚至理解它的动态行为。明智而谨慎地使用计算机模型可以帮助完成基因网络的图谱，测试这些图谱作为解释的合理性，并直接努力解决已知事实之间的不一致性。本课程是为生物学家提供最低限度的软件使用培训的第一步。

A two-week workshop workshop/short course will be held at the University of Washington, Friday Harbor August 20th -September 3rd, 2000. The course will acquaint students with a modeling approach and software in the context of how biologists can use such tools to explore the evolutionary potential of developmental mechanisms. The first half of the course will cover background information that is crucial to young investigators working in the evolution of development (EvoDevo). This will include: major conceptual issues in evolutionary theory; evidence of evolvability from analysis of fossils and morphology; use of sequence data to infer phylogeny; and paradigms of developmental mechanics (i.e. networks of interacting genes). The second half will focus on modeling gene networks and the use of Ingeneue to do so.Molecular biology is providing ever more detailed maps of developmental mechanisms as a first step in understanding development. The problem is, however, that these maps are so complex that even when a network is known well, human intuition and language cannot predict or even comprehend its dynamic behavior. The informed, careful use of computer models can help complete maps of gene networks, test the plausibility of those maps as explanations and direct efforts toward inconsistencies among the known facts. This course is a first step in providing biologists with a minimum of training in the use of software towards that end.