美國(guó)留學(xué)：耶魯大學(xué)將成立生物設(shè)計(jì)研究所

耶魯大學(xué)最近對(duì)外宣稱成立生物設(shè)計(jì)研究所,這將充分利用生物學(xué)家,工程師和其他學(xué)科的研究人員的專業(yè)知識(shí),探討生物和物質(zhì)如何在納米級(jí)系統(tǒng)運(yùn)作,發(fā)揮作用。

james e. rothman,生物醫(yī)學(xué)科學(xué)研究所的教授,同時(shí)也是醫(yī)學(xué)院細(xì)胞生物學(xué)系的主席,被任命為位于西校區(qū)新學(xué)院的主任。t. kyle vanderlick,耶魯大學(xué)工程和應(yīng)用科學(xué)學(xué)院院長(zhǎng),將擔(dān)任副主任。

按照工程設(shè)計(jì)系統(tǒng)的第一原理,到更小尺度,rothman說(shuō), 生物學(xué)家是逆向的工程師,追求并推導(dǎo)出自然的設(shè)計(jì),在生物學(xué)家的思維中,存在逆向的意見(jiàn)交集,相互豐富彼此的內(nèi)容。

該研究所將設(shè)在西校區(qū)b - 24,將新雇用多達(dá)10位研究科學(xué)家。rothman和vanderlick還將聘請(qǐng)現(xiàn)有跨學(xué)科的耶魯大學(xué)教師在研究所進(jìn)行研究。

這項(xiàng)工作將是多樣化的,并且工作的重點(diǎn)是rothman呼吁創(chuàng)造的自然機(jī)器。例如,科學(xué)家建立納米機(jī)器,可以在活細(xì)胞內(nèi)發(fā)揮功能,生產(chǎn)新材料,從而協(xié)助組織工程,甚至創(chuàng)造dna機(jī)器人來(lái)進(jìn)行編程的任務(wù)。

新學(xué)院的建立體現(xiàn)了西校區(qū)成立之初的使命---匯集來(lái)自不同背景的科學(xué)家,以解決科學(xué)的基礎(chǔ)問(wèn)題, 西校區(qū)規(guī)劃和計(jì)劃發(fā)展副校長(zhǎng)scott strobe說(shuō),研究所將使耶魯成為幾個(gè)重要領(lǐng)域的世界領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者,包括發(fā)現(xiàn)研究細(xì)胞的納米機(jī)器,合成生物學(xué),活性物質(zhì)和動(dòng)態(tài)光學(xué)顯微鏡在納米尺度的生物激勵(lì)設(shè)計(jì)等。

西校區(qū)將至少擁有5個(gè)的跨學(xué)科研究機(jī)構(gòu)和3個(gè)科學(xué)技術(shù)的核心研究設(shè)施。西校區(qū)于2007年被并購(gòu),校園擁有160萬(wàn)的科研,辦公和倉(cāng)庫(kù)空間,這些空間為擴(kuò)大學(xué)校的科學(xué),醫(yī)學(xué)和工程學(xué)研究及其他學(xué)術(shù)活動(dòng)提供了可能的機(jī)會(huì)。

該生物設(shè)計(jì)研究所被高度譽(yù)為作為在校園展開(kāi)跨學(xué)科研究工作的標(biāo)志和極好的例子。

由于工程在醫(yī)學(xué)和生命科學(xué)的普及,我們希望在大部分的研究所發(fā)揮最關(guān)鍵的作用,vanderlick說(shuō)。毫無(wú)疑問(wèn),多學(xué)科的孵化器式研究機(jī)構(gòu)所帶來(lái)的工作環(huán)境類型,可以促使工程業(yè)的蓬勃發(fā)展。

編輯信息來(lái)源：耶魯大學(xué)官網(wǎng)

the university has announced the creation of the biodesign institute, which will leverage the expertise of biologists, engineers and researchers in other disciplines to explore how living and material systems operate at the nanoscale.
james e. rothman, the fergus f wallace professor of biomedical sciences and chair of the department of cell biology at the school of medicine, has been named director of the new institute, to be located at west campus. t. kyle vanderlick, dean of the yale school of engineering and applied science, will serve as deputy director.

"engineers design systems from first principles, and do so on ever-smaller scales," says rothman. "biologists are reverse engineers, and seek to deduce the design that nature provides. there is a profound intersection between these oppositely-oriented views that enriches both."

the institute, to be housed in the b-24 building at west campus, will be home initially to laboratories of up to 10 newly hired research scientists. a faculty advisory committee will be appointed to help oversee the institute, which is expected to open in early 2012. rothman and vanderlick are also recruiting existing yale faculty across a wide array of disciplines to conduct research at the institute.

the work will be diverse and focus on the creation of what rothman calls "natural machines." for instance, scientists there will help build nano-machines that can function inside living cells, produce new materials that can assist in tissue engineering, or even create dna "robots to carry out programmed tasks.

"the new institute embodies the mission of west campus — to bring together scientists from diverse backgrounds to tackle fundamental issues in science," said scott strobel, vice president for west campus planning and program development. "the institute will position yale to be a world leader in several exciting areas, including the discovery and analysis of cellular nano-machines, synthetic biology, bio-inspired design of active materials and dynamic optical microscopy on the nanoscale."

west campus will host at least five cross-disciplinary institutes and three scientific technology core facilities. acquired in 2007, the campus boasts 1.6 million square feet of research, office and warehouse space that provides opportunities to enhance the universitys science, medicine and engineering research and other academic programs.

the biodesign institute is hailed as an example of cross-disciplinary research efforts that are the hallmark of the campus and its institutes.

"given the pervasiveness of engineering in medicine and the life sciences, we expect to play a critical role in most, if not all, of the institutes," vanderlick says. "without question, the multidisciplinary incubators the institutes provide are the type of working environment in which engineers flourish."