Harris Lewin | |
---|---|
Born | 1957 [1] Brooklyn, N.Y. [2] |
Awards | Wolf Prize in Agriculture |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | Cornell University University of California, Davis |
Thesis | (1984) |
Academic work | |
Institutions | University of Illinois University of California,Davis |
Main interests | biologist |
Notable ideas | genomics and immunogenetics |
Harris A. Lewin, [1] an American biologist,is a professor of evolution and ecology and Robert and Rosabel Osborne Endowed Chair at the University of California,Davis. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. [3] In 2011,Lewin won the Wolf Prize in Agriculture for his research into cattle genomics. [3] [4] Lewin chairs the working group for the Earth BioGenome Project,a moonshot for biology that aims to sequence,catalog,and characterize the genomes of all of Earth’s eukaryotic biodiversity over a period of 10 years. [5] Lewin is a founding co-editor of the Annual Review of Animal Biosciences ,first published in 2013. [6]
Lewin studied at Cornell University and earned his B.S. in Animal Science in 1979 and M.S. in Animal Breeding and Genetics in 1981. He was awarded his Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of California,Davis in 1984. [7] [1] [8] [9] He then worked at the University of Illinois. [3] In 2003,he served as the founding director of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. [10] [4] In 2009,he and a team of researchers fully sequenced the cow genome. [4]
Lewin served as vice chancellor for research at University of California,Davis from 2011 until 2016. In 2016 he returned to the faculty in the University of California,Davis Department of Evolution and Ecology and the Genome Center. [11] Lewin is a member of a group biologists that propose to sequence the DNA of all life on Earth. [12]
Lewin was senior author of a study that revealed one of the most prolific bulls in the history of Holstein cattle breeding,Pawnee Farm Arlinda Chief,had a lethal gene mutation estimated to have caused half million spontaneous cow abortions worldwide. [13] [14] [15] [16] Lewin collaborated with researchers from the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique in France for a study that used RNA-sequencing to highlight problems with gene expression in cloned cattle. [17] In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, [18] Lewin and his colleagues used an algorithm to computationally recreate the chromosomes of the first eutherian mammal,the long-extinct,shrewlike ancestor of all placental mammals. [19]
At the 48th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters,Switzerland,Lewin announced a landmark partnership between the Earth BioGenome Project and the Earth Bank of Codes to map the DNA of all the planet’s eukaryotes,some 1.5 million known species. [20] [21] Lewin was the lead author for a perspective paper published April 23,2018 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,"Earth BioGenome Project:Sequencing life for the future of life." [5] In the paper,the 24 interdisciplinary experts who comprise the Earth BioGenome Project Working Group,outline a roadmap and rational for the project,which is estimated to cost $4.7 billion and take ten years. [5]
In the fields of molecular biology and genetics,a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA. The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes,other functional regions of the genome such as regulatory sequences,and often a substantial fraction of 'junk' DNA with no evident function. Almost all eukaryotes have mitochondria and a small mitochondrial genome. Algae and plants also contain chloroplasts with a chloroplast genome.
Carl Richard Woese was an American microbiologist and biophysicist. Woese is famous for defining the Archaea in 1977 through a pioneering phylogenetic taxonomy of 16S ribosomal RNA,a technique that has revolutionized microbiology. He also originated the RNA world hypothesis in 1967,although not by that name. Woese held the Stanley O. Ikenberry Chair and was professor of microbiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
Genomics is an interdisciplinary field of biology focusing on the structure,function,evolution,mapping,and editing of genomes. A genome is an organism's complete set of DNA,including all of its genes as well as its hierarchical,three-dimensional structural configuration. In contrast to genetics,which refers to the study of individual genes and their roles in inheritance,genomics aims at the collective characterization and quantification of all of an organism's genes,their interrelations and influence on the organism. Genes may direct the production of proteins with the assistance of enzymes and messenger molecules. In turn,proteins make up body structures such as organs and tissues as well as control chemical reactions and carry signals between cells. Genomics also involves the sequencing and analysis of genomes through uses of high throughput DNA sequencing and bioinformatics to assemble and analyze the function and structure of entire genomes. Advances in genomics have triggered a revolution in discovery-based research and systems biology to facilitate understanding of even the most complex biological systems such as the brain.
Medicago truncatula,the barrelclover,strong-spined medick,barrel medic,or barrel medick,is a small annual legume native to the Mediterranean region that is used in genomic research. It is a low-growing,clover-like plant 10–60 centimetres (3.9–23.6 in) tall with trifoliate leaves. Each leaflet is rounded,1–2 centimetres (0.39–0.79 in) long,often with a dark spot in the center. The flowers are yellow,produced singly or in a small inflorescence of two to five together;the fruit is a small,spiny pod.
David Botstein is an American biologist serving as the chief scientific officer of Calico. He served as the director of the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics at Princeton University from 2003 to 2013,where he remains an Anthony B. Evnin Professor of Genomics.
David Haussler is an American bioinformatician known for his work leading the team that assembled the first human genome sequence in the race to complete the Human Genome Project and subsequently for comparative genome analysis that deepens understanding the molecular function and evolution of the genome.
Gerald Mayer Rubin is an American biologist,notable for pioneering the use of transposable P elements in genetics,and for leading the public project to sequence the Drosophila melanogaster genome. Related to his genomics work,Rubin's lab is notable for development of genetic and genomics tools and studies of signal transduction and gene regulation. Rubin also serves as a vice president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and executive director of the Janelia Research Campus.
Scientists trying to reconstruct evolutionary history have been challenged by the fact that genes can sometimes transfer between distant branches on the tree of life. This movement of genes can occur through horizontal gene transfer (HGT),scrambling the information on which biologists relied to reconstruct the phylogeny of organisms. Conversely,HGT can also help scientists to reconstruct and date the tree of life. Indeed,a gene transfer can be used as a phylogenetic marker,or as the proof of contemporaneity of the donor and recipient organisms,and as a trace of extinct biodiversity.
Gene Ezia Robinson is an American entomologist,Director of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology and National Academy of Sciences member. He pioneered the application of genomics to the study of social behavior and led the effort to sequence the honey bee genome. On February 10,2009,his research was famously featured in an episode of The Colbert Report whose eponymous host referred to the honey Dr. Robinson sent him as "pharmaceutical-grade hive jive".
Evolution of cells refers to the evolutionary origin and subsequent evolutionary development of cells. Cells first emerged at least 3.8 billion years ago approximately 750 million years after Earth was formed.
The Earth Microbiome Project (EMP) is an initiative founded by Janet Jansson,Jack Gilbert and Rob Knight in 2010 to collect natural samples and to analyze the microbial community around the globe.
The eocyte hypothesis in evolutionary biology proposes the origin of eukaryotes from a group of prokaryotes called eocytes. After his team at the University of California,Los Angeles discovered eocytes in 1984,James A. Lake formulated the hypothesis as "eocyte tree" that proposed eukaryotes as part of archaea. Lake hypothesised the tree of life as having only two primary branches:Parkaryoates that include Bacteria and Archaea,and karyotes that comprise Eukaryotes and eocytes. Parts of this early hypothesis were revived in a newer two-domain system of biological classification which named the primary domains as Archaea and Bacteria.
Microbial phylogenetics is the study of the manner in which various groups of microorganisms are genetically related. This helps to trace their evolution. To study these relationships biologists rely on comparative genomics,as physiology and comparative anatomy are not possible methods.
The Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB) is an interdisciplinary facility for genomics research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Institute was built in 2006 to centralize biotechnology research at the University of Illinois. Current research at the IGB explores the genomic bases of a wide range of phenomena,including the progression of cancer,the ecological impact of global change,tissue and organ growth,and the diversity of animal behavior.
The Earth BioGenome Project (EBP) is an initiative that aims to sequence and catalog the genomes of all of Earth's currently described eukaryotic species over a period of ten years. The initiative would produce an open DNA database of biological information that provides a platform for scientific research and supports environmental and conservation initiatives. A scientific paper presenting the vision for the project was published in PNAS in April 2018,and the project officially launched November 1,2018.
Nikos Kyrpides is a Greek-American bioscientist who has worked on the origins of life,information processing,bioinformatics,microbiology,metagenomics and microbiome data science. He is a senior staff scientist at the Berkeley National Laboratory,head of the Prokaryote Super Program and leads the Microbiome Data Science program at the US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute.
Jose V. Lopez is an American-Filipino molecular biologist. He has been faculty and professor of biology at Nova Southeastern University (NSU). in Dania Beach FL since 2007. Lopez co-founded the Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance (GIGA),a community of scientists. He has also participated in the Porifera Tree of Life,Earth Microbiome and Earth BioGenome Projects.
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