LIFE: Leveraging Innovations From Evolution
What is the LIFE initiative?
Funded by the National Science Foundation, the LIFE Scoping Workshops of 2023 brought together diverse scientists to brainstorm how we might take ambitious, transdisciplinary leaps within a convergent evolutionary framework to better understand solutions to life’s common problems and effectively engineer new and sustainable technologies.
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Overview
The overarching goal of the Leveraging Innovation from Evolution (LIFE) initiative was to bring together diverse scientists to brainstorm how they might take ambitious, transdisciplinary leaps within a convergent evolutionary framework to better understand solutions to life’s common problems and effectively engineer new and sustainable technologies. To accomplish this goal, the Program Directors of the National Science Foundation Directorate for Biological Sciences partnered with Knowinnovation, a consultancy organization focused on accelerating multidisciplinary innovation, and Dr. Jen Wisecaver at Purdue University to host a series of workshops
Why?
In the 3.7 billion years since the origin of life on Earth, organisms have evolved complex innovative traits in response to myriad environmental challenges. These biological innovations (e.g., the ability to survive in extreme conditions, such as subzero temperatures or arid environments; the ability to produce or resist toxins; the ability to ‘see’ in the dark via echolocation; etc.) represent a treasure-trove of bio-solutions that, if properly understood, have the potential to provide unprecedented advances for the bioeconomy (e.g., improve industrial processes, develop new pharmaceutical and agricultural products, produce new energy, and engineer resilient systems for a changing planet).
The Challenge
One inherent challenge when studying innovative traits is the fact that the biological mechanisms responsible for these traits are frequently unknown. Despite exponential growth in genomic resources, the functions of most genes in most genomes remain uncharacterized. There is growing appreciation for non-model organismal research as a means to integrate comparative and evolutionary perspectives into mechanistic studies of gene function. And yet, the simple terminology of ‘gene function’ belies the extremely complex nature of genotype by environmental interactions that result in dynamic organismal traits. Paradigm changing advances in this area will necessarily cross multiple biological scales (from molecules to ecosystems), and as such require that scientists bridge the cultural and intellectual gaps that currently divide biological subdisciplines.
About the Events
A virtual town hall was held on May 15th, 2023 to raise awareness about the upcoming scoping sessions.
Two Scoping Sessions took place in the second half of 2023. An in-person Scoping Session was held August 14th-16th at the Alexander Hotel in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, and an online Scoping Session was held the week of September 11th hosted on Knowinnovation’s in-house virtual meeting and collaboration platform KIStorm.
In total, 18 recommendations emerged from the LIFE Scoping Sessions. These spanned both specific and broad research priorities to address fundamental biological questions and scientific gaps that could inform pressing societal/economic issues. Other recommendations identified new and emerging technology and/or plans for inclusive and integrative training and education. Lastly, many recommendations offered ideas for novel institutional and funding structures that could be utilized to address the priorities identified by LIFE participants.
All recommendations are available in the LIFE Synthesis Report.
Following the close of both Scoping Sessions, a subset of the original participants joined the LIFE leadership team for a Synthesis Day virtual meeting, which was held on September 25th, 2023. During the Synthesis Day, Knowinnovation facilitators led the participants in integrating the feedback and recommendations provided by both Scoping Sessions. Several cross-cutting themes were identified, which are presented in the LIFE Synthesis Report.
A virtual town hall was held on May 15th, 2023 to raise awareness about the upcoming scoping sessions.
Two Scoping Sessions took place in the second half of 2023. An in-person Scoping Session was held August 14th-16th at the Alexander Hotel in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, and an online Scoping Session was held the week of September 11th hosted on Knowinnovation’s in-house virtual meeting and collaboration platform KIStorm.
In total, 18 recommendations emerged from the LIFE Scoping Sessions. These spanned both specific and broad research priorities to address fundamental biological questions and scientific gaps that could inform pressing societal/economic issues. Other recommendations identified new and emerging technology and/or plans for inclusive and integrative training and education. Lastly, many recommendations offered ideas for novel institutional and funding structures that could be utilized to address the priorities identified by LIFE participants.
All recommendations are available in the LIFE Synthesis Report.
Following the close of both Scoping Sessions, a subset of the original participants joined the LIFE leadership team for a Synthesis Day virtual meeting, which was held on September 25th, 2023. During the Synthesis Day, Knowinnovation facilitators led the participants in integrating the feedback and recommendations provided by both Scoping Sessions. Several cross-cutting themes were identified, which are presented in the LIFE Synthesis Report.