Engineering Principles in Biological Systems

冷泉港实验室生物系统工程原理系列研讨会中的三个题为生物系统工程原理的研讨会将于2007年5月6 - 8日、2008年5月4 - 6日和2009年5月3 - 5日在纽约州冷泉港的冷泉港实验室班伯里中心举行。这些研讨会的目的是汇集具有强大的理论或数学背景的科学家，并对将工程原理应用于生物系统研究的积极兴趣，以进行相互教育和未来合作。参与者将来自工程和计算机科学，生物学和物理科学，他们的研究主题将涵盖细胞，系统和人口生物学。 智力优势：在进化过程中，生命系统保留了偶然发现的解决问题的方法，这些方法是为了生存而必须解决的。在过去，理论生物学主要集中在解释这些解决方案背后的物理化学机制，而功能解决方案对的形式的解释一直在一个相对特设的方式进行研究，并没有从学科的角度来处理。这些研讨会将促进理论生物学的新兴方法的发展，更正式地强调设计或工程原理。这里的前提是，虽然生物系统中的解决方案或设计不是工程化的，而是通过自然选择逐渐产生的，但它们仍然可以在与人类工程系统一起发展的工程理论框架内以现有形式进行研究。研讨会的目标：（1）理论经典的发展：提炼一系列理论，而不是一个适用于研究生物系统中工程原理的万有理论。这些理论的出发点（如建议的研讨会所反映的）可以从工程系教授的课程中得出。因此，我们的想法是从现有的主要工程理论（控制，通信，计算）开始，并检查这些理论是否适用于生物系统，如果不适用，需要进行哪些修改。(2)教学目标：这些研讨会将为生物研究人员提供一个教育机会，让他们了解可能与他们的工作相关的工程理论，并为工程理论家和计算机科学家提供一个教育机会，让他们了解可能有助于理解的生物问题。每节课将有一个相应的工程理论的教程概述，其次是生物学的例子，选择专门跨越尺度：从细胞和有机体水平，以及从人口或进化生物学在适当的情况下。 传播和更广泛的影响：拟议的研讨会将促进这种新的方法来理解生物系统和跨学科的合作文化，其成功将需要。会议的地点和形式是鼓励公开讨论和发起合作努力的理想选择，希望继续举办一系列此类讲习班也将鼓励发展一个持久和渐进的理论框架。为了补充讲习班与会者的直接培训机会，讲习班上的演讲沿着相关辅助材料将放在一个可供公众访问的网站上，以供一般科学界使用。此外，将编写一份反映讲习班审议情况的简要报告，通过网站传播，并提交一份评论期刊发表。

ABSTRACT0709983Mitra, ParthaCold Spring Harbor LabEngineering Principles in Bioogical SystemsThree workshops in a series entitled Engineering Principles in Biological Systems are proposed to take place at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory's Banbury Center, Cold Spring Harbor, NY on May 6-8, 2007, May 4-6, 2008, and May 3-5, 2009. The purpose of these workshops is to bring together scientists with strong theoretical or mathematical backgrounds, and an active interest in applying engineering principles to the study of biological systems, for mutual education and future collaboration. Participants will be drawn from engineering and computer science, biology, and the physical sciences, and their topics of research will span cellular, systems and population biology. Intellectual Merit: Through the process of evolution, living systems retain accidentally found solutions to problems they must solve in order to survive. In the past, theoreticalbiology has largely focused on explanations of the physico-chemical mechanisms behind such solutions, while explanation in the form of function-solution pairs has been studied in a relatively ad hoc manner and has not been approached from a disciplinary perspective. These workshops will promote the development of an emerging approach to theoretical biology with more formal emphasis on design or engineering principles. Here, the premise is that although solutions or designs in biological systems are not engineered but instead arise incrementally through natural selection, they may nevertheless be studied in their existing forms in the framework of engineering theories developed alongside human-engineered systems.Goals of the workshops:(1) Development of a theoretical canon: Refine a list of theories, rather than a theory of everything, applicable to studying engineering principles in biological systems. A starting point for these theories (as reflected in the proposed workshop sessions) can be drawn from courses taught in engineering departments. The idea is therefore to start with major existing engineering theories (controls, communication, computation) and to examine whether these apply to biological systems, and if not, what modifications are in order.(2) Pedagogical goals: The workshops will provide an educational opportunity for biological researchers to learn about engineering theories which may be relevant to their work, and for engineering theorists and computer scientists to learn about biological problems they might help to be understood. Each session will have a tutorial overview of the corresponding engineering theory, followed by biological examples, chosenspecifically to span scales: from cellular and organism levels, as well as from population or evolutionary biology where appropriate. Dissemination and Broader Impact: The proposed workshops will foster this newapproach to understanding biological systems and the collaborative culture across disciplines that its success will require. The conference venue and format are ideal for encouraging open discussion and initiating collaborative efforts, and it is hoped that a continuing series of such workshops will also encourage the development of an enduring and progressive theoretical framework. To complement the direct training opportunity for workshop participants, talks presented at the workshop along with relevant supportingmaterial will be put on a publicly accessible website for the benefit of the general scientific community. In addition, a summary report reflecting the deliberations at the workshop will be prepared and disseminated through the website and submitted for publication in a review journal.