Meeting: Genomes to Phenomes (G2P) Workshop, Arlington, VA (October 25-27, 2015)

生物系统异常复杂，涉及不同空间尺度（从分子、细胞和组织，到器官、器官系统和整个生物体）的大量成分之间的大量相互作用，并发生在不同的时间尺度上（从发生在几分之一秒内的分子相互作用，到发生在以小时到月为单位的时间尺度上的发育和生理过程）。这些生物过程是什么，以及它们如何运作以产生特定的特征和特性（表型）一直是生物学家非常感兴趣的主题。在过去的几十年里，我们对基因、基因组和基因调控网络的理解发生了实质上的革命。具有讽刺意味的是，基因组和表型知识的巨大增长并没有伴随着对基因影响性状的机制的更深入的理解。更深入地了解基因如何影响复杂性状，对于更好地理解遗传疾病和通过遗传和环境因素相互作用而产生的疾病（如癌症、糖尿病、自身免疫性疾病和衰老的影响）的潜在机制具有明显的实际好处。同样，更深入的了解将提高我们对基因工程后果的认识，对动植物农业有实质性的好处。最后，更好地了解基因和环境是如何相互作用的，将提高我们在气候变化和个性化医疗等重要问题上教育各级公民的能力。从基因组到现象（G2P）研讨会的目标是向数学界和生物界征求关于提高我们对生物系统涌现特性理解的机会的建议。研讨会将探讨我们对基因组与现象关系的理解存在哪些差距，如何填补这些差距，实现这一目标需要什么样的基础设施，以及如何通过实验生物学家和数学家之间的新互动，最好地鼓励一种包含理论和实验的综合方法。研讨会将为生物学家、数学家和统计学家之间的新合作奠定基础，以更深入地了解基因和复杂性状之间的相互作用。理解这些异常复杂的关系的挑战为生物学和数学科学家之间的互动创造了丰富的机会，以开发新的和复杂的方法来分析和理解连接基因型和表型的过程。

Biological systems are exceptionally complex, involving a multitude of interactions among an enormous number of components at different spatial scales (from molecules, cells and tissues, to organs, organ systems and whole organisms) and occurring at different temporal scales (from molecular interactions that occur in a fraction of a second, to developmental and physiological processes that occur on time scales measured in hours to months). What these biological processes are, and how they operate to produce particular traits and properties (phenotypes) has been a subject of intense interest among biologists. The past few decades have witnessed a virtual revolution in our understanding of genes, genomes and gene regulatory networks. Ironically, this great growth in the knowledge of genomes and phenomes has not been accompanied by a deeper understanding of the mechanisms by which genes affect traits. A deeper understanding of how genes affect complex traits has obvious practical benefits for developing an improved understanding of the mechanisms underlying genetic diseases and diseases that arise through the interaction of genetic and environmental factors, such as cancer, diabetes, autoimmune diseases and the impacts of aging. Likewise, a deeper understanding will improve our knowledge of the consequences of genetic engineering with substantial benefits to animal and plant agriculture. Finally a better understanding of how genes and environment interact will improve our ability to educate citizens, at all levels, on important issues such as the effects of climate change and personalized medicine.The goal of the Genome to Phenomes (G2P) Workshop is to solicit advice from the mathematical and biological communities about opportunities to advance our understanding of emergent properties of biological systems. The workshop will examine where the gaps are in our understanding of genome-to-phenome relationships, how to fill these gaps, what kind of infrastructure would be required to achieve this end, and how best to encourage an integrated approach encompassing theory and experiment through new interactions among experimental biologists and mathematicians. The workshop will lay the foundation for new collaborations among biologists, mathematicians and statisticians in developing a deeper understanding of the interactions among genes and complex traits. The challenge to understand these exceptionally complex relationships creates rich opportunities for interaction among biological and mathematical scientists to develop new and sophisticated methods of analyzing and understanding the processes that link genotypes and phenotypes.