Biological Sciences Thematic Area
Synopsis
The NSF BIO Foundations of Life thematic area emphasizes fundamental research in natural and synthetic living systems – including neural systems – from diverse organisms. This research aims to improve understanding of structure, dynamics, mechanisms, functions and regulation at multiple scales of biological organization, from biomolecules and supramolecular assemblies to cells to organisms.
Research projects may address topics, such as, but not limited to the following:
Principles governing biomolecular interactions, including quantum phenomena.
Biomolecular and supramolecular structure, assembly and dynamics.
Cell structure and dynamics.
Biomechanical principles of organismal function.
Integrated physiological processes.
Neuroscience scaling from cellular to behavioral levels.
Developmental mechanisms.
Epigenetics and mechanisms of gene expression.
Approaches may include, but are not limited to, engineering of synthetic molecules, cells, tissues, and microbial communities to test biological principles; systems biology studies scaling from the cell to the organism; and combining experimental data with computational modeling to predict emergent properties.