OPUS: Geological, Environmental, and Chemical Biology

Foundation For Applied Molecular Evolution, Inc., Alachua FL

Investigators

Abstract

Any system, natural or man-made, can be better understood when its structure and history are considered together. Living systems are not exceptions. Nevertheless, over the past century, the molecules and cells that form the nanoscopic and microscopic structures within organisms have generally been studied separately from the histories of the organisms themselves. This has deprived biology, both as a science and a business central to biotechnology and medicine, of certain power that might come from tools that consider together its molecules, organisms, ecosystems and histories. This NSF OPUS project will exploit recent advances in chemistry, biology and geology, together with two decades of work in Dr. Benner's laboratory, to combine these disciplines in a vertical synthesis. The project will produce tools for the researcher to facilitate this synthesis in the laboratory, including databases that historically organize the human genome, computational tools to detect molecular adaptation, and experimental strategies to test historical hypotheses in the laboratory. The project will also deliver instructional materials for students who wish to participate in this synthesis. Many diseases, including hypertension and diabetes, reflect imperfect adaptation of our genome to rapid changes in the environments experienced by our recent primate ancestors. Many complications of advanced cancers, including those of the evolutionarily ""modern"" prostate and breast, involve the adaptation of cells via molecular change in response to medical intervention. Much data in molecular biology, from the crystal structures of proteins to the human genome, does not convey any particular meaning in the absence of a historical context. For these and other reasons, the synthesis that will be advanced through this OPUS project should have impact throughout biology, pure and applied.