Concepts in BiologyBIO AC Meeting, Oct. 18-19, 2007

Advancing innovation and competitiveness at the convergence of the life and physical sciences and

engineering

NSF Strategic Goals

Discovery

Learning

Research Infrastructure

Stewardship

Amer. Comp. Init. (ACI)

Fundamental Research

21st Century Workforce

Transformative Facilities & Infrastructure

Quality Merit Review

BIO Priorities

Core Programs, Emerging Frontiers

Broadening participation activities

NEON, Plant Cyber Collaborative, CEIN

Transformative research, organizational change / managing the core

BIO at NSF: Integrating with ACI

21st Century Innovation Will Rely on Biology

Discoveries at all levels of biology will reverberate throughout science and provide the transformational

insights that will lead to practical solutions in seemingly unrelated research areas. (NRC Report)

Biology: Shaping the Future

• The 21st century will be “The Age of Biology” because classic grand challenges are now within reach.

Biological information is exploding Ingenious new toolsNon-biologists are turning to living systems

• BIO will advance the frontiers of knowledge at the intersection of the life and physical sciences and engineering

• Foster ACI relevant initiatives that support discovery at the intersection of the life and physical sciences

• Understanding the “molecular basis of life”

• Discovery – From simple to complex: a single gene change is responsible for generating a more complex multi-chambered heart.

• Discovery - “Small RNAs” are a ubiquitous, potent set of molecules that regulate cellular process including development, pathogen defense and stress response

• “Improving our understanding of global climate variability and change” (OMB/OSTP Letter)

• Discovery – Research into Earth’s ancient climate reveals the importance of the biosphere in driving global change.

Core/ACI

Biology: Shaping the Future

Concepts in Biology

• Origins: Use Synthetic Biology to discover the molecular basis of life and develop and test models of emergent complexity

• Energy: Expand knowledge of living energy-transduction

systems to inform the development of new biology-based, renewable energy technologies.

• Adaptation: Discover the underlying mechanisms that enable living organisms to survive, adapt to, and transform their environment.

Managing the Core

Adaptation: Ecological ForecastingDiscovery

Crenarchaeota, the first discovered nitrogen fixing archaea, are emerging as a

major driver of the global carbon and nitrogen cycles

Origins: How, where, and when did life on Earth begin?

• Where did the molecules necessary to begin life originate?

• How did the complex biological chemistry of life* emerge from pre-biotic chemistry and geochemistry?

*Self-contained – The Cell

*Self-sustaining - Energy

*Self-perpetuating - Reproduction and Evolution

• Are there alternative routes to life?

Open system chemistry

Encapsulated, self-sustaining biochemistry

Basic elements

Model Digital WorldsCharles Ofria, Claus O. Wilke (NSF/BIO)

Origins: How, where, and when did life on Earth begin?

?

Life as we know it

Transitions and transformations

Knowledge about the “Last Universal Common Ancestor” for life on Earth will define constraints on the pre-biotic conditions that gave rise to life and will inform our understanding of the onset and early evolution of life.

Can the indispensable requirements for life—including the pre-biotic conditions and steps leading to life—be revealed by Synthetic Biology?

Stanley Miller

PS IETL/C60Au AgITO

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photon

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Energy: How is energy obtained and used by living systems to sustain life?

What are the systems by which life forms obtain and use energy to sustain life?

Understanding the wide variety of energy transduction systems will inspire and enable the development of biology-based technologies capable of delivering sustainable, renewable, efficient energy.

Assemble the basics

Biofuels

Applied

Photosynthesis

Barry Bruce ( NSF/BIO)

Agrivida NSF/ENG SBIR

Chloroplast

Energy: How is energy obtained and used by living systems to sustain life?

The discovery of new life forms on Earth will enhance our knowledge of self-sustaining energy systems.

A vast microbial world has yet to be incorporated into a fundamental concept of life’s history.

Life as we don’t know it.

Life as we know it.

Mars

EuropaAntarctica

Deep ocean

Kilometers of water

Microbes two miles down derive energy from radiation

Tullis Onstott, Lisa Pratt (NSF/GEO)

Adaptation in the Story of Life: What has survived and how?

How have some life forms survived geological and climate altering events and successfully adapted to a transformed biosphere?

Knowledge of life’s resilience and adaptations to planetary change will require a theoretically and conceptually rich interdisciplinary effort.

Adaptation and survival

Neo Martinez (NSF/BIO)

Extinction

Transformations

Adaptation in the Story of Life: What will survive and how?

Understanding life’s resilience and adaptation to planetary change will enable realistic predictions for the future of life on Earth in response to:

• Global climate change – NEON • Human activities• Disruptive events• Fresh water depletion

Choices

Changes

• Global Climate Change• Climate Change and Disruptive Events • Dynamics of Earth’s Water System • Center for the Environmental Implications

of Nanotechnology (CEIN)

BIO Environmental Science

• National Ecological Observatory Network

• Research and development of environmental sensors and sensor networks, cyberinfrastructure, and enabling technologies

• A goal of observing, modeling and analyzing a wide range of complex environmental systems.

Discovery

Restoring marine biodiversity through an ecosystem based

management approach is essential to avoid serious

threats to global food security, costal water quality

and ecosystem stability

National Science Foundation

Fiscal Year 2008 update

Waiting on a budgetOperating under a continuing resolution

Not unusual for this time of year

FY 2008 Administration’s request is $6.43 Billion, a 6.8 % increase over 2007

Research and Related Activities is $5.13 Billion, a 7.7 % increase over 2007

STATUS: House and Senate appropriation bills provide for R&RA funding similar to the administration request, but differ in extent of increased funding for Education and Human Resource (EHR) programs.

Reflects emphasis on American Competitiveness Initiative

National Science FoundationFiscal Year 2008 update

National Science Foundation

Fiscal Year 2008 update

$ %FY 2003 Actual (NSF Total) $5,369.34BIO 580.90 607.85 633.00 25.15 4.1%CISE 496.35 526.69 574.00 47.31 9.0%ENG (less SBIR/STTR) 486.39 519.67 566.89 47.22 9.1% SBIR/STTR 99.07 108.88 116.41 7.53 6.9%GEO 703.95 744.85 792.00 47.15 6.3%MPS 1,086.61 1,150.30 1,253.00 102.70 8.9%SBE 201.23 213.76 222.00 8.24 3.9%OCI 127.14 182.42 200.00 17.58 9.6%OISE 42.61 40.61 45.00 4.39 10.8%OPP 390.54 438.10 464.90 26.80 6.1%IA 233.30 231.37 263.00 31.63 13.7%ARC 1.17 1.45 1.49 0.04 2.8%

Research & Related Activities Total $4,449.25 $4,765.95 $5,131.69 $365.74 7.7%36574.0%Totals may not add due to rounding.

FY 2008 R&RA Request by DirectorateFY 2006 Actual

FY 2007 Request

FY 2008 Request

FY 2008 Request

Change over FY 2007 Request

FY 2008 Request

Research and Related Activities by directorate

Challenges for the Future

• Conveying the message that biology is more than biomedicine

• Creating the Directorate of the future

• Managing novel research infrastructure in the context of long term research priorities National Ecological Observatory Network

Plant Cyberinfrastructure

NSF’s Role

Goal: Inspire a new generation of scientists, engineers, and educators to create new knowledge and technologies to sustain life on Earth, adapt to a changing world, and explore our universe.

Why NSF: Success requires collaborative research and education across the range of sciences and engineering uniquely encompassed by NSF.

Chemistry, Geochemistry

Time

Plant biology, Biochemistry

Microbiology,Ecology

Evolution, Astronomy, Astrobiology

Engineering, Synthetic biology, Computational and Mathematical modeling, Nanotechnology

Physical anthropology, Archaeology

End of Presentation