This project encompasses an integrated education and research plan in the field of evolutionary systems biology. The research objective of the project is to use quantitative experiments with microbes to investigate evolutionary dynamics on rugged fitness landscapes. Major advances in biophysics and evolutionary systems biology have resulted from the emergence of a new field integrating quantitative microbial experiments together with theoretical studies in evolutionary dynamics. A unifying theme in much of this research is the richness of the evolutionary phenomena that emerges from rugged fitness landscapes. This ruggedness is the result of interactions between different mutations. Such interactions can be caused by physical interactions within a protein (epistasis), network interactions within decision-making modules in the cell, or social interactions between different members of a population. The proposed research project uses the evolution of antibiotic resistance as a model system to explore the evolutionary dynamics that result from these various forms of interactions. The lessons learned will provide new insight into the emergence of antibiotic resistance in bacteria.
The broader impacts of the project follow from the close integration between the research project and an extensive education and outreach effort. Using experience gained from ten weeks of studying undergraduate science education as a Fellow at the National Academy of Sciences with the Board on Science Education, the PI will create an extensive set of conceptual ConcepTest Questions in Physical, Systems, and Evolutionary Biology. These questions will be tested in a pair of new courses taught by the PI and then will be posted online at the Compadre website, providing a valuable resource to the teaching community that is currently unavailable. The PI will actively involve members of his research group in these teaching activities, thus encouraging the next generation of teacherscholars to use techniques from education research.
