{"606483":{"#nid":"606483","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Multimillion-Dollar Center for Math, Biology","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new national project, which includes the Georgia Institute of Technology, aims to convey the benefits of physics\u0026rsquo; age-old intertwining with math upon biology, a science historically less connected with it. The National Science Foundation and the Simons Foundation have launched four\u0026nbsp;centers to\u0026nbsp;do this, funded with $40 million, one of which is headquartered at Georgia Tech and will receive a fourth\u0026nbsp;of the funding.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor centuries, together mathematics and physics have shifted paradigms in science and rattled human perception by predicting planetary orbits, theorizing relativity or explaining how one particle can be in two places at the same time. Can theoretical math and biosystems team up to similarly shake the foundations of knowledge?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We certainly think it\u0026rsquo;s possible,\u0026rdquo; said Christine Heitsch,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/people.math.gatech.edu\/~heitsch\/\u0022\u003Ea professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Mathematics\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;who leads the new regional center. \u0026ldquo;But our immediate goals are more realistic,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;Our first step is getting more mathematicians and bioscience researchers\u0026nbsp;working together in research collaborations.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBio-math synergy\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOn an everyday basis, that means the Southeast Center for Mathematics and Biology (SCMB) headquartered at Georgia Tech will tackle open questions in biology using novel math.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Math can potentially change the way we do our experiments,\u0026rdquo; said Hang Lu,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/chbe.gatech.edu\/people\/hang-lu\u0022\u003Ea professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;who co-leads of the center. \u0026ldquo;If you model your data with topology (a field of mathematics) you see that your data can have a shape,\u0026rdquo; Lu said. \u0026ldquo;And that can make you go look for different kinds of data.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It will be a two-way street,\u0026rdquo; Heitsch said. \u0026ldquo;Math always benefits when it\u0026rsquo;s challenged by reality.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOver time, the math-bio spiral could lead to eureka moments.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Biological systems can look overwhelmingly complex, and that just means we haven\u0026rsquo;t found the right way of looking at them yet,\u0026rdquo; Heitsch said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENSF vision\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe SCMB is one of three NSF-Simons Research Centers for Mathematics of Complex Biological Systems. The other two are based at Harvard University and at the University of California, Irvine. Together, they will not only advance the math-biosciences synergy but also spread their knowledge to hundreds of undergraduate and K-12 students throughout the region through educational outreaches.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe SCMB comprises 14 researchers, including collaborators throughout the Southeastern United States. Tulane University, the University of Florida, the University of South Florida, Clemson University, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory are each contributing a mathematician, and one bioscientist is based at Duke University.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This project has visionary potential to shake up the way we view biological systems, and also expand mathematics,\u0026rdquo; said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/faculty\/Kubanek\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EJulia Kubanek, Associate Dean of Research in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s College of Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;The National Science Foundation and the Simons Foundation have shown tremendous foresight in creating these three centers, and I think headquartering one at Georgia Tech is a great fit because cross-connecting research disciplines is already one of our core missions.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBiosciences enigmas\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo understand the particular value of combining math with biosciences, it\u0026rsquo;s important to not conflate the latter with physics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA graphic depiction of canalization. The path of the ball represents the development toward a phenotype, which may start with varying genetic foundations but roll out to secure phenotypical outcomes. But canalization can also lead to more than one possible phenotypical outcome from one set of genes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor example, in relativity, near-light speeds change an object\u0026rsquo;s mass, its length, and its passage through time. Those warped phenomena and their equations aren\u0026rsquo;t so applicable in the world of experimental biosciences, which live in a more Newtonian reality, but one with intricate enigmas for math to demystify.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETake the phenomenon called\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Canalisation_(genetics)\u0022\u003Ecanalization\u003C\/a\u003E, which saves living things from the little genetic snafus inside of us all by making sure that proper physical traits usually get produced in spite of mutations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EClone contradictions\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECanalization shatters a stubborn popular notion that genes determine how an organism is built.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Genes are not deterministic,\u0026rdquo; said Lu, who is Love Family Professor. She studies the intricate pathways that lead from genetic foundations to measurable physical or behavioral traits, or phenotypes, in\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EC.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003Eelegans\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;roundworms. \u0026ldquo;You often have two individuals with identical genotypes (specific sets of genes) that have different sets of phenotypes.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat means that canalization may not offer just one but two options -- or more -- to form a trait based on a single set of genes. \u0026ldquo;What fascinates me is that you can have (\u003Cem\u003EC.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003Eelegans\u003C\/em\u003E) clones that are genetically identical but exhibit different behavior,\u0026rdquo; Heitsch said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECanalization is not new; it dates to 1942. But its labyrinthine mechanisms and how they \u0026ldquo;chose\u0026rdquo; one phenotypical pathway over the other still contain many mysteries. \u0026ldquo;Maybe math can help us find answers,\u0026rdquo; Lu said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELabyrinthine intricacies\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0167278916303621\u0022\u003EAlgebra has already taken up canalization\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;but at the SCMB, more maths will join in.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/mathworld.wolfram.com\/Topology.html\u0022\u003ETopology\u003C\/a\u003E, computation, stochastics (principles of randomness), and geometry may enlighten canalization\u0026rsquo;s myriad interworkings of DNA, RNA, enzymes, protein folding, and just plain randomness.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOther questions SCMB bioscientists and mathematicians are pursuing:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHow do stem cells know whether to become a neuron or a skin cell?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHow does one cell transport molecules to others?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhat exactly does RNA do to help repair DNA damage?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHeitsch, for example, specializes in a field of mathematics called\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/mathigon.org\/world\/Combinatorics\u0022\u003Ecombinatorics\u003C\/a\u003E, and she applies it to the way molecules of RNA fold.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHistorical divergence\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBiology is no stranger to stochastics or computation in the analysis of its data, but it has been much less connected than other sciences to the aerial acrobatics of theoretical mathematics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;There is enormous unrealized potential in applying more theoretical areas of math like algebra, topology, and geometry,\u0026rdquo; Heitsch said. \u0026ldquo;That\u0026rsquo;s new territory, which also means new risks. But we\u0026rsquo;ve hedged our bets with mathematics already more used in biology to get guaranteed returns.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBiology and theoretical math have not interfaced much in the past for a couple of reasons.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe endless intricacies of biology, from hundreds of thousands of species to countless biomolecular structures, has made it a gathering and cataloging science for centuries with data that is tough to unify. Also, much data has had to wait for technology to be invented to collect it.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Biology hasn\u0026rsquo;t had the measurement tools until just recently, like mass spectrometry and high-end microscopy, to get the hard data needed for math to work with,\u0026rdquo; Lu said. \u0026ldquo;Now is a great time for biology and math to come together,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECultural exchange\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlso, history has separated the disciplines. For centuries, physicists were also mathematicians and vice versa. \u0026ldquo;And they were engineers,\u0026rdquo; Lu said. But biologists?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Darwin was assuredly not a mathematician,\u0026rdquo; Heitsch said. \u0026ldquo;He said he didn\u0026rsquo;t understand as much math as he would have liked to.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENot many mathematicians have been biologists either.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe NSF-Simons Foundation centers are building the bridge to join them, and the SCMB at Georgia Tech makes for a good pillar. Most of its bioscience researchers\u0026nbsp;already know engineering or physics math, and its mathematicians are already delving into life sciences.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEditor\u0026#39;s Note: This article is a slightly modified clone of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/new-frontiers-beckon-math-and-biology-multimillion-dollar-nsf-simons-project\u0022\u003Efeature story by Ben Brumfield published on May 24, 2018 in Research Horizons online\u003C\/a\u003E. \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThis article was corrected on May 30, 2018, to reflect corrections\u0026nbsp;in the original story about the number of centers (four), total funding ($40 M), and the Georgia Tech\u0026#39;s share (one-fourth).\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"National Science Foundation and Simons Foundation launch $40 M project to advance both field"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe National Science Foundation and Simons Foundation have launched a\u0026nbsp;multimillion-dollar national project to advance mathematics and biology. The project comprises three centers, including one based in the Georgia Institute of Technology. The project\u0026nbsp;aims to convey the benefits of physics\u0026rsquo; age-old intertwining with math upon biology, a science historically less connected with it.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Project consists of three centers, including the Southeast Center for Mathematics and Biology at Georgia Tech."}],"uid":"30678","created_gmt":"2018-05-24 20:41:47","changed_gmt":"2018-05-30 18:29:59","author":"A. 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