2015 Molecular Mechanisms in Evolution Gordon Research Conference held 28 Jun - 3 Jul 2015 at Stonehill College, Easton MA.

数学建模、高通量表型鉴定和技术发展等定量方法可能会产生一种关于生物学和生命的统一理论。二十世纪初的“现代合成”先于分子生物学革命和基因组学时代。尽管传统群体遗传学的许多假设和预测已被证明是正确的，但由于新的发现，如非遗传、基于蛋白质和基于RNA的遗传和应激诱导突变，其他假设和预测必须进行修改。同样，分子生物学、基因组学和医学领域的研究人员往往不熟悉群体遗传学理论。这次会议的目标是越来越多的研究人员试图联合这些以前截然不同的领域，并向物理学家学习如何得出普遍原则。这次会议的目的是为参与这项持续的跨学科努力的研究人员提供一个家和社区。戈登研究会议(GRC)计划包括邀请和贡献年轻和更成熟的研究人员的口头和海报演示文稿，专注于该领域最好的新兴科学。新的戈登研究会议第二次会议于2015年6月28日至7月3日在马萨诸塞州伊斯顿的斯通希尔学院举行，会议的重点是从机制上理解遗传和表观遗传变异是如何产生的，特别是在对环境压力的反应中，以及这种变异在多大程度上产生表型多样性、塑造进化和促成疾病。会议讨论了广泛的主题，包括讨论细胞生物学和随机性对非传统遗传机制的限制，从实验室实验中获得的见解，编码机制和突出基因组意外可塑性的调节。会议将讨论如何使用机械知识来预测和阻止传染病和癌症的遗传过程。GRC将促进不同学科的物理学家和生物学家之间的国际和国内合作，以促进对生物过程的系统和定量分析，加强理论建设和加深对基础生物学的理解。这次会议将为年轻科学家提供网络机会、灵感和联系，并为处于职业生涯关键阶段的年轻参与者提供关于前沿新研究的指导和观点。申请的资金将用于支付不同群体的研究生、博士后、新研究人员、女性和少数群体参与者的费用。该项目由物理系的生命系统物理学项目和分子和细胞生物科学系的遗传机制项目共同支持。

Quantitative approaches such as mathematical modeling, high-throughput phenotyping combined with technology development may yet yield a united theory of biology and life. The "modern synthesis" of the early twentieth century predated the molecular biology revolution and the genomics era. Although many of the assumptions and predictions of traditional population genetics have proven correct, others have to be modified due to new discoveries such as non-genetic, protein and RNA-based inheritance and stress-inducible mutations. Likewise, researchers in the fields of molecular biology, genomics, and medicine are often unacquainted with population genetics theory. This meeting is aimed at the growing numbers of investigators attempting to unite these formerly disparate fields and to learn from physicists how to arrive at universal principles. This meeting aims to provide a home and community for researchers involved in this ongoing, cross-disciplinary endeavor. The Gordon Research Conference (GRC) program includes invited and contributed oral and poster presentations by both younger and more established researchers, focusing on the best emerging science in the field.The second meeting of the new Gordon Research Conference Molecular Mechanisms in Evolution, June 28th-July 3rd, 2015 at Stonehill College, Easton, MA breaks new ground by focusing on the mechanistic understanding of how genetic and epigenetic variation arises, especially in response to environmental stress, and to which extent this variation generates phenotypic diversity, shapes evolution, and contributes to disease. The meeting sessions address a wide range of topics, including discussions of the constraints that cell biology and stochasticity pose for non-traditional mechanisms of inheritance, insights garnered from experiments in the laboratory, mechanisms of coding and regulation highlighting the unexpected plasticity of genomes. The meeting will discuss how mechanistic knowledge could be used to predict and arrest inheritance processes in infectious diseases and cancer. The GRC will promote international and national collaboration between physicists and biologists of diverse disciplines to promote systematic and quantitative analyses of biological processes, intensified theory building and deeper understanding of basic biology. This meeting will provide networking opportunities, inspiration and connections for young scientists, mentoring, and perspectives on cutting-edge new research for young participants at a critical stage in their careers. The requested funds will be used to defray the costs of a diverse group of graduate students, postdocs, new investigators, women, and minority participants.This project is being jointly supported by the Physics of Living Systems program in the Division of Physics and the Genetic Mechanisms Program in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences.