This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2018, Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. Repetitive DNA makes up a large fraction of the total DNA in most organisms. Although it has sometimes been called "junk DNA", studies show that repetitive DNA is critical to many processes including how genes are regulated, genome evolution, aging, and disease. Despite its critical role, repetitive DNA is understudied. This is largely because software programs available for studying repetitive DNA can be difficult to use and their performance has not been compared against uniform standards of success. This project aims to address these challenges and simplify the process for scientists to study repetitive DNA using the best available programs. As scientists can better study repetitive DNA and its role in aging, cancer, and other processes affecting human health, society will in turn benefit. This project will place the fellow in an ideal setting for studying repetitive DNA alongside leading experts in the field. The project will also deliver career building opportunities to five students from underrepresented groups by engaging them directly in the research, and will promote mentorship of additional students within the department. Added diversity of individuals in science improves the quality of scientific research, and benefits society as privilege gaps close and individuals of all backgrounds have access to their desired careers.
The applicant will build a workflow for benchmarking transposable element (TE) annotation programs against well-studied animal, plant, and fungus model species. Using simulated and empirical datasets generated from these models, the applicant will evaluate a panel of available TE annotation programs to measure their effectiveness at annotating TE insertions across model species, and across TE families. Following performance testing, the best-performing programs will be wrapped into a pipeline designed to be portable and easily expandable. The applicant will demonstrate the utility of this pipeline by profiling repetitive DNA in a diverse family of beetles (Carabidae) to test hypotheses of transposon biology in the group. Students mentored under the project will be trained in basic command-line and bioinformatic skills, as well as molecular bench work including DNA extraction and library preparation. The fellow will receive training in computational biology, computer programming, and transposon biology, as well as opportunities to hone mentoring skills.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
