NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2010

这一行动为2010财年美国国家科学基金会博士后研究奖学金提供资金。该奖学金支持一项名为“为什么我们的外祖父母的染色体比我们的祖父母的染色体更彻底地混合？”的研究和培训计划。亚尼夫·布兰德万。这项研究的主办机构是加州大学戴维斯分校，赞助科学家是格雷厄姆·库珀。重组在基因信息的“混合”中起着重要作用，也是在种群中产生个体差异的一种机制。尽管科学家已经观察到男性和女性在不同程度上混合了他们的染色体，但这一观察到的潜在原因(S)和后果尚不清楚。这项研究使用生物信息学工具、建模方法和新建立的数据库来确定哪些参数(生态、进化、生活史等)。最好的预测是从人类和其他哺乳动物到鸟类和植物等广泛物种的性别重组率差异。公共数据也被纳入到最终分析中，以获得对更多物种的重组的更广泛的看法。这一奖学金的培训目标包括使用基因组学和信息学工具，以及基础生物学研究的复杂统计分析。这项工作的成果正通过科学出版物、在国家会议上的陈述以及与媒体和记者的交流向公众传播。除了提出和检验多重假说外，这项拟议的研究还有助于更好地理解分子机制及其对人类健康和生育方面的基本问题的影响。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2010. The fellowship supports a research and training plan entitled "Why are chromosomes from our maternal grandparents more thoroughly mixed than chromosomes from our paternal grandparents?" for Yaniv Brandvain. The host institution for this research is the University of California - Davis, and the sponsoring scientist is Graham Coop.Recombination plays an important role "mixing" up genetic information, and is one mechanism that produces differences among individuals in a population. Although scientists have observed that males and females mix their chromosomes to different extents, the underlying cause(s) and consequences of this observation are unclear. This research uses bioinformatics tools, modeling approaches, and a newly-constructed database to determine which parameters (ecological, evolutionary, life-history, etc.) best predict sex-differences in recombination rates across a broad range of species - from humans and other mammals, to birds and plants. Public data are also being incorporated into the final analysis to gain an even broader view of recombination across a wider number of species.Training goals for this fellowship include use of genomics and informatics tools and complex statistical analysis for basic biology research. The results of this work are being disseminated to the public through scientific publication, presentation at national meetings, and communication with media and journalists. In addition to presenting and testing multiple hypothesis, the proposed research also contributes to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms, and their implications both for basic problems in human health and fertility.