Workshop: Vision 2020 for Biology to be held on January 3-4, 2008 in Arlington, Virginia

在未来10-15年内，生物学将从描述性科学转变为预测性科学。这种“下一代”研究将作为其基础，详细了解控制单个细胞行为的系统以及它们之间的相互作用，从而在整个生物体水平上产生输出。系统生物学旨在将分子图谱转化为活细胞内功能相互作用的网络，并开发数学平台来整合和解释从不同实验方法获得的生物数据。 这就需要详细了解当遗传成分的网络受到干扰时会发生什么，通过实验室诱导的变异或利用自然变异。九年前，一群科学家在美国国家科学基金会赞助的研讨会上会面，讨论当时生物学面临的重大挑战。其主要目的是确定植物科学可以为应对这些挑战做出重要和持久贡献的领域。他们报告中的一个关键建议是将足够的资源集中在模式植物拟南芥上，以便能够充分利用其即将完成的基因组序列。随着NSF 2010计划接近完成，似乎应该退后一步，评估进展，并再次询问植物如何为应对生物学的重大挑战做出贡献。 该研讨会将于2008年1月3日至4日在弗吉尼亚州的阿灵顿举行，将汇集来自美国和外国机构的科学家，讨论植物研究的未来方向，建立在从拟南芥中获得的工具，资源和知识，以面对未来的挑战。更广泛的影响：今天，许多现实世界的问题都涉及植物：对粮食、可再生和碳中性生物燃料以及栖息地保护的压力不断上升，这是由不断增长和日益繁荣的人口需求所驱动的。面对这些挑战的能力取决于对植物基本生物学和生态学的理解。正是在解决生物学中的基本问题时，NSF资助的植物研究为解决这些紧迫问题提供了基础。通过确定生物学的下一组重大挑战以及如何通过植物研究最好地应对这些挑战，本次研讨会将为明天不可预见的问题提供最好的准备。 将通过拟南芥信息资源网站（http：//www.example.com）向科学界广泛散发一份介绍讨论结果的摘要报告。www.arabidopsis.org

In the next 10-15 years, biology will move from a descriptive to a predictive science. This 'next generation' research will have as its foundation, a detailed understanding of the systems that control the behavior of individual cells and the interactions between them, resulting in outputs at the whole organism level. Systems biology aims to transform molecular maps into networks of functional interactions within living cells, and develop mathematical platforms to integrate and interpret biological data obtained from diverse experimental approaches. This will require detailed knowledge of what happens as networks of genetic components are perturbed, through variation induced in the laboratory or by taking advantage of natural variation.Nine years ago, a group of scientists met in a NSF sponsored workshop to discuss the grand challenges facing biology at that time. Their primary aim was to identify areas in which plant science could provide important and lasting contributions to addressing these challenges. A key recommendation from their report was to focus sufficient resources on the model plant Arabidopsis to be able to fully exploit its soon to be completed genome sequence. As the NSF 2010 program nears completion it seems appropriate to step back, assess progress and once again ask how plants can contribute to addressing the grand challenges in Biology. This workshop, to be held in Arlington, Virginia January 3-4, 2008, will bring together scientists from US and foreign institutions to discuss the future directions for plant research, building on the tools, resources and knowledge gained from Arabidopsis in facing future challenges. Broader Impacts: Today, a host of real-world problems involve plants: escalating pressures for food, renewable and carbon neutral biofuels, and habitat preservation are being driven by the demands of an ever growing, and ever more prosperous human population. The ability to face these challenges is dependent on understanding the basic biology and ecology of plants. It is in addressing fundamental problems in biology that NSF funded plant research has provided the foundations for meeting some of these pressing problems. It is the expectation that by identifying the next set of grand challenges in biology and how they can best be met by plant research, this workshop will provide the best preparation for the unforeseen problems of tomorrow. A summary report describing the outcomes of the discussions will be disseminated broadly to the scientific community through the Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR) web site (http://www.arabidopsis.org).