BII-Design: Evolutionary Morphogenesis and Biodiversity Institute (EMBody)

人类和生态系统的福祉依赖于地球上的生物多样性。多样性的出现是因为动物和植物使用了各种各样的方法在各种形式的栖息地生存。对动物来说，生存关键取决于它们的移动能力。大多数动物在水中用鳍，在空中用翅膀，在陆地上用四肢。但这些附属物具有非凡的形态多样性，可以重新用于新的功能，比如用鳍走路，用四肢游泳。该项目将建立进化形态发生和生物多样性（体现）研究所，以推动发现动物的附属物是如何形成和使用的。从分子到细胞再到种群，从几毫秒到数亿年不等，复杂而鲜为人知的过程驱动着附属物的多样性。体现研究所将利用多学科合作，生产新的技术和工具来研究动物附属物的形成过程。此外，了解动物如何在不同的环境中移动可以改进用于陆地、海洋或空中救灾的机器人的设计。重要的是，该研究所将培养一种包容的文化，以扩大研究、教育和公众对科学的参与。生物学的一个核心问题是地球上的生物多样性是如何从复杂的、多尺度的生物过程与物理和化学环境的相互作用中产生的。进化形态发生和生物多样性（体现）研究所将专注于动物运动和推进附属物的显著多样性，这对在不同栖息地的运动和生存至关重要。本设计方案旨在建立一个协作社区，整合多个学科，以推动在理解脊椎动物附属物（如鳍、四肢和翅膀）形态发生进化方面取得突破。附属物通过形态发生发育，这是一个将遗传模式与生化和机械调节相结合的动态过程。形式可以实现功能，但不能规定功能。相反，在机械原理和神经控制下，与环境的物理相互作用导致了功能。最终，自然选择作用于功能，祖先基因调控网络的进化转化产生了新的形式和功能。从最小水平的基因到最大规模的种群选择，这个不可分割的循环是体现研究所的中心主题。该研究所将整合来自多个学科和多个生物组织层次的专家：(i)通过调控驱动共享基因网络出现不同形态的发展，（ii）通过神经、肌肉骨骼和机械相互作用产生功能的生物力学，以及（iii）将祖先基因网络转化为产生新形态和功能的进化。合作活动将产生和测试新的假设、创新的测量方法和独特的数据集，使多个科学界受益。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The well-being of humans and ecosystems relies on biodiversity on Earth. Diversity emerged because animals and plants use a fantastic variety of methods to survive in all forms of habitats. In the case of animals, survival depends crucially on their ability to move around. Most animals use fins in water, wings in air, and limbs on land. But these appendages have extraordinary morphological diversity and can be repurposed for novel functions such as using fins to walk and limbs to swim. This project will establish the Evolutionary Morphogenesis and Biodiversity (EMBody) Institute to drive discoveries on how appendages are formed and used in animals. Complex and poorly understood processes, ranging across levels of organization from molecules through cells to populations and in speed from milliseconds to hundreds of millions of years, drive the diversity of appendages. The EMBody Institute will use multi-disciplinary collaborations to produce novel techniques and tools to study the processes that shape animal appendages. Additionally, learning how animals move over diverse environments can lead to improvements in the design of robots used in disaster relief by land, sea, or air. Importantly, the Institute will foster a culture of inclusivity to broaden participation in research, education, and public engagement with science.A central question in biology is how biodiversity on Earth emerged from the complex, multi-scale interactions of biological processes with the physical and chemical environment. The Evolutionary Morphogenesis and Biodiversity (EMBody) Institute will focus on animal locomotion and the remarkable diversity of propulsive appendages, essential for movement and survival in diverse habitats. This Design proposal aims to establish a collaborative community that integrates the multiple disciplines needed for propelling breakthroughs in understanding the evolution of morphogenesis in vertebrate appendages such as fins, limbs, and wings. Appendages develop through morphogenesis, a dynamical process that integrates genetic patterning with biochemical and mechanical regulation. Form enables function but does not dictate it. Rather, physical interactions with the environment, governed by mechanical principles and neural control, leads to function. Ultimately, natural selection operates on function, and the evolutionary transformation of ancestral gene regulatory networks yields novel forms and functions. From genes at the smallest level to selection on populations at the largest scale, this inextricable loop is the central theme of the EMBody Institute. The Institute will integrate experts from multiple disciplines and multiple levels of biological organization: (i) development that drives the emergence of diverse morphologies from shared gene networks through regulation, (ii) biomechanics that generates function by neural, musculoskeletal, and mechanical interactions, and (iii) evolution that transforms ancestral gene networks to yield novel morphology and function. The collaborative activities will generate and test novel hypotheses, innovative measurement methods, and unique datasets to benefit multiple scientific communities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.