Natural selection

Future MSU research site will allow users to apply evolutionary principles to current-day applications.

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About 150 years after Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” was published, MSU researchers are poised to break new ground in the study of evolution.

During his time, Darwin only could dream of understanding the “how” and “why” of evolutionary principles, said Charles Ofria, an associate professor of computer science and engineering.

Now, Darwin’s vision might be realized after MSU received a $25 million grant last week from the National Science Foundation, or NSF, to potentially transform the study of evolutionary principles.

Announced Feb. 17, the Bio/computational Evolution in Action CONsortium, or BEACON, project will deviate from traditional methods of studying evolution by applying evolutionary principles to future biological and non-biological applications.

“We’re working with concrete things in front of us, right now,” said Erik Goodman, a professor of electrical and computer engineering. “We’re learning principles, what does work, what doesn’t work and those ideas can be applied by looking at evolution.”

BEACON also will allow researchers from different fields to collaborate and answer complex scientific and societal issues, Ofria said.

“Often when you think about the field of evolution, it’s hard to think of it in terms of an experimental science,” Ofria said. “And we want to change that mindset.”

Evolving science

Since Darwin’s time, the study of evolution primarily has focused on examining fossil records and mapping genetic sequences back in time to discover the “when” and “where” of evolution, Ofria said.

BEACON will stray from the traditional model of studying historical evolution and instead will apply evolution’s principles to present-day applications, Goodman said. Biologists, for example, will collaborate with computer scientists to digitally map evolutionary sequences, drawing similarities between biological and digital processes, such as viruses in computers and humans.

“We’re looking at evolution in action; evolution going on in the world today,” Goodman said.

With BEACON, researchers will be able to utilize evolution to help solve societal problems and fuel innovation, Goodman said. For example, researchers can use principles of natural selection to create new technologies, such as developing automobile parts, Goodman said.

By putting designs for car parts into a computer and running special evolutionary software, researchers will be able to find better and more efficient ways to develop the parts.

“When you start off with a design for some part, it might be far from the optimal design,” Goodman said. “When you look at the software and simulate how it’s going to behave, it turns out to behave much better than what you would have designed.”

Joan Frye, an NSF senior staff associate who managed the Science and Technology Center competition under which MSU received the grant, said BEACON will positively impact research across multiple academic disciplines.

“BEACON will promote the transfer of discoveries from biology into computer science and engineering design and use novel computational methods to address complex biological questions,” Frye said in an e-mail.

Economically speaking

Most of the grant funding will pay for human capital, including new graduate research positions, Goodman said.

“It’s a very people-intensive operation,” Goodman said.

The $25 million grant will be spread across five years and will cover research costs at MSU and its four BEACON partner institutions, Ofria said.

The partner institutions are the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Idaho, North Carolina A&T State University and the University of Washington.

The researchers will have an opportunity in the coming years to receive additional funding for another five years.

Ofria said only MSU and its partner universities will receive grant money, but researchers at other universities also will be able to conduct research at MSU.

“If we don’t collaborate, if we stay insulated, then we’ve completely defeated the whole purpose of having a center,” Ofria said.

What’s in store

Renovations are underway to make room for BEACON and are scheduled to wrap up by mid-May, said Brian Mullen, a planner and inspector analyst at MSU’s Physical Plant.

BEACON will be housed with the upcoming Institute for Cyber-enabled Research, or iCER, in the space formerly occupied by the Biomedical and Physical Sciences Branch Library. iCER will allow researchers to use high-performance computers for their work, which benefits research conducted at BEACON, Goodman said.

The renovations are occurring under a smaller-than-usual time frame because the NSF’s guidelines call for the center to be up and running by June 1, Mullen said. Goodman said the NSF might delay funding until August 1, but whether the funds come sooner or later, the researchers plan to move into the new space by this summer.

“What’s going to happen is our evolutionary techniques, as they improve, will allow us to answer more complex problems,” Goodman said. “We’re just very excited.”

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