Project acronym BIGSEA
Project Biogeochemical and ecosystem interactions with socio-economic activity in the global ocean
Researcher (PI) Eric Douglas Galbraith
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE10, ERC-2015-CoG
Summary The global marine ecosystem is being deeply altered by human activity. On the one hand, rising concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases are changing the physical and chemical state of the ocean, exerting pressure from the bottom up. Meanwhile, the global fishery has provided large economic benefits, but in so doing has restructured ecosystems by removing most of the large animal biomass, a major top-down change. Although there has been a tremendous amount of research into isolated aspects of these impacts, the development of a holistic understanding of the full interactions between physics, chemistry, ecology and economic activity might appear impossible, given the myriad complexities. This proposal lays out a strategy to assemble a team of trans-disciplinary expertise, that will develop a unified, data-constrained, grid-based modeling framework to represent the most important interactions of the global human-ocean system. Building this framework requires solving a series of fundamental problems that currently hinder the development of the full model. If these problems can be solved, the resulting model will reveal novel emergent properties and open the doors to a range of previously unexplored questions of high impact across a range of disciplines. Key questions include the ways in which animals interact with oxygen minimum zones with implications for fisheries, the impacts fish harvesting may have on nutrient recycling, spatio-temporal interactions between managed and unmanaged fisheries, and fundamental questions about the relationships between fish price, fishing cost, and multiple markets in a changing world. Just as the first coupled ocean-atmosphere models revealed a wealth of new behaviours, the coupled human-ocean model proposed here has the potential to launch multiple new fields of enquiry. It is hoped that the novel approach will contribute to a paradigm shift that treats human activity as one component within the framework of the Earth System.
Summary
The global marine ecosystem is being deeply altered by human activity. On the one hand, rising concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases are changing the physical and chemical state of the ocean, exerting pressure from the bottom up. Meanwhile, the global fishery has provided large economic benefits, but in so doing has restructured ecosystems by removing most of the large animal biomass, a major top-down change. Although there has been a tremendous amount of research into isolated aspects of these impacts, the development of a holistic understanding of the full interactions between physics, chemistry, ecology and economic activity might appear impossible, given the myriad complexities. This proposal lays out a strategy to assemble a team of trans-disciplinary expertise, that will develop a unified, data-constrained, grid-based modeling framework to represent the most important interactions of the global human-ocean system. Building this framework requires solving a series of fundamental problems that currently hinder the development of the full model. If these problems can be solved, the resulting model will reveal novel emergent properties and open the doors to a range of previously unexplored questions of high impact across a range of disciplines. Key questions include the ways in which animals interact with oxygen minimum zones with implications for fisheries, the impacts fish harvesting may have on nutrient recycling, spatio-temporal interactions between managed and unmanaged fisheries, and fundamental questions about the relationships between fish price, fishing cost, and multiple markets in a changing world. Just as the first coupled ocean-atmosphere models revealed a wealth of new behaviours, the coupled human-ocean model proposed here has the potential to launch multiple new fields of enquiry. It is hoped that the novel approach will contribute to a paradigm shift that treats human activity as one component within the framework of the Earth System.
Max ERC Funding
1 600 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-07-01, End date: 2021-06-30
Project acronym CELLDOCTOR
Project Quantitative understanding of a living system and its engineering as a cellular organelle
Researcher (PI) Luis Serrano
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACIO CENTRE DE REGULACIO GENOMICA
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS2, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary The idea of harnessing living organisms for treating human diseases is not new but, so far, the majority of the living vectors used in human therapy are viruses which have the disadvantage of the limited number of genes and networks that can contain. Bacteria allow the cloning of complex networks and the possibility of making a large plethora of compounds, naturally or through careful redesign. One of the main limitations for the use of bacteria to treat human diseases is their complexity, the existence of a cell wall that difficult the communication with the target cells, the lack of control over its growth and the immune response that will elicit on its target. Ideally one would like to have a very small bacterium (of a mitochondria size), with no cell wall, which could be grown in Vitro, be genetically manipulated, for which we will have enough data to allow a complete understanding of its behaviour and which could live as a human cell parasite. Such a microorganism could in principle be used as a living vector in which genes of interests, or networks producing organic molecules of medical relevance, could be introduced under in Vitro conditions and then inoculated on extracted human cells or in the organism, and then become a new organelle in the host. Then, it could produce and secrete into the host proteins which will be needed to correct a genetic disease, or drugs needed by the patient. To do that, we need to understand in excruciating detail the Biology of the target bacterium and how to interface with the host cell cycle (Systems biology aspect). Then we need to have engineering tools (network design, protein design, simulations) to modify the target bacterium to behave like an organelle once inside the cell (Synthetic biology aspect). M.pneumoniae could be such a bacterium. It is one of the smallest free-living bacterium known (680 genes), has no cell wall, can be cultivated in Vitro, can be genetically manipulated and can enter inside human cells.
Summary
The idea of harnessing living organisms for treating human diseases is not new but, so far, the majority of the living vectors used in human therapy are viruses which have the disadvantage of the limited number of genes and networks that can contain. Bacteria allow the cloning of complex networks and the possibility of making a large plethora of compounds, naturally or through careful redesign. One of the main limitations for the use of bacteria to treat human diseases is their complexity, the existence of a cell wall that difficult the communication with the target cells, the lack of control over its growth and the immune response that will elicit on its target. Ideally one would like to have a very small bacterium (of a mitochondria size), with no cell wall, which could be grown in Vitro, be genetically manipulated, for which we will have enough data to allow a complete understanding of its behaviour and which could live as a human cell parasite. Such a microorganism could in principle be used as a living vector in which genes of interests, or networks producing organic molecules of medical relevance, could be introduced under in Vitro conditions and then inoculated on extracted human cells or in the organism, and then become a new organelle in the host. Then, it could produce and secrete into the host proteins which will be needed to correct a genetic disease, or drugs needed by the patient. To do that, we need to understand in excruciating detail the Biology of the target bacterium and how to interface with the host cell cycle (Systems biology aspect). Then we need to have engineering tools (network design, protein design, simulations) to modify the target bacterium to behave like an organelle once inside the cell (Synthetic biology aspect). M.pneumoniae could be such a bacterium. It is one of the smallest free-living bacterium known (680 genes), has no cell wall, can be cultivated in Vitro, can be genetically manipulated and can enter inside human cells.
Max ERC Funding
2 400 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-03-01, End date: 2015-02-28
Project acronym eLightning
Project Lightning propagation and high-energy emissions within coupled multi-model simulations
Researcher (PI) Alejandro Luque Estepa
Host Institution (HI) AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DEINVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE10, ERC-2015-CoG
Summary More than 250 years after establishing the electrical nature of the lightning flash, we still do not understand how a lightning channel advances. Most of these channels progress not continuously but in a series of sudden jumps and, as they jump, they emit bursts of energetic radiation. Despite increasingly accurate observations, there is no accepted explanation for this stepped progression.
This proposal addresses this open question. First, we propose a methodological breakthrough that will allow us to tackle the main bottleneck in the theoretical understanding of lightning: the wide disparity between length-scales within a lightning flash. We plan to apply techniques that have succeeded in other fields, such as multi-model coupled simulations and moving-mesh finite elements methods. Acting as a computational microscope, these techniques will reveal the small-scale electrodynamics around a lightning channel.
We will then apply these techniques to elucidate the intertwined problems of lightning channel stepping and thunderstorm-related high-energy emissions. The main hypothesis that we will test is that stepping is due to the formation of low-conductivity spots within the filamentary-discharge region that surrounds a lightning channel. This idea is motivated by observations from high-altitude atmospheric discharges. By resolving the small-scale dynamics, with our numerical method, we will also test hypothesis for high-energy emissions from the lighting channel, which crucially depend on the microscopic distribution of electric fields.
This interdisciplinary proposal, straddling between geophysics and gas discharge physics, seeks a double breakthrough: the methodological one of building multi-scale lightning simulations and the hypothesis-driven one of finding out the reason for stepping. If it succeeds, it will achieve a leap forward in our knowledge of lightning, undoubtedly one of the greatest spectacles in our planet's repertoire.
Summary
More than 250 years after establishing the electrical nature of the lightning flash, we still do not understand how a lightning channel advances. Most of these channels progress not continuously but in a series of sudden jumps and, as they jump, they emit bursts of energetic radiation. Despite increasingly accurate observations, there is no accepted explanation for this stepped progression.
This proposal addresses this open question. First, we propose a methodological breakthrough that will allow us to tackle the main bottleneck in the theoretical understanding of lightning: the wide disparity between length-scales within a lightning flash. We plan to apply techniques that have succeeded in other fields, such as multi-model coupled simulations and moving-mesh finite elements methods. Acting as a computational microscope, these techniques will reveal the small-scale electrodynamics around a lightning channel.
We will then apply these techniques to elucidate the intertwined problems of lightning channel stepping and thunderstorm-related high-energy emissions. The main hypothesis that we will test is that stepping is due to the formation of low-conductivity spots within the filamentary-discharge region that surrounds a lightning channel. This idea is motivated by observations from high-altitude atmospheric discharges. By resolving the small-scale dynamics, with our numerical method, we will also test hypothesis for high-energy emissions from the lighting channel, which crucially depend on the microscopic distribution of electric fields.
This interdisciplinary proposal, straddling between geophysics and gas discharge physics, seeks a double breakthrough: the methodological one of building multi-scale lightning simulations and the hypothesis-driven one of finding out the reason for stepping. If it succeeds, it will achieve a leap forward in our knowledge of lightning, undoubtedly one of the greatest spectacles in our planet's repertoire.
Max ERC Funding
1 960 826 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-06-01, End date: 2021-05-31
Project acronym NONCODRIVERS
Project Finding noncoding cancer drivers
Researcher (PI) Nuria Lopez Bigas
Host Institution (HI) FUNDACIO INSTITUT DE RECERCA BIOMEDICA (IRB BARCELONA)
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), LS2, ERC-2015-CoG
Summary Finding the mutations, genes and pathways directly involved in cancer is of paramount importance to understand the mechanisms of tumour development and devise therapeutic strategies to overcome the disease. Due to their role in cancer development and maintenance, the proteins encoded by cancer genes are candidate therapeutic targets. Indeed, in recent years we have witnessed the development of successful cancer-targeting therapies to counteract the effect of driver mutations. Although the coding part of the human genome has now largely been explored in the search for cancer driver mutations in most frequent cancer types, the extent of involvement of noncoding mutations in cancer development remains a mystery. The main challenges faced are: 1) the functional role of most noncoding regions is unknown, and 2) tumours often have thousands of somatic mutations, so that distinguishing cancer driver mutations from bystanders is like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. To overcome these two challenges I propose to analyse the pattern of somatic mutations across thousands of tumours in noncoding regions to identify signals of positive selection. These signals are an indication that mutations in the region have been positively selected during tumour evolution and are thus directly involved in the tumour phenotype. The large scale analysis proposed here will allow us to create a catalogue of noncoding elements involved in different types of cancer upon mutations. We will study in detail a selected set of driver elements to uncover their specific function and role in the tumourigenic process. Furthermore, we will explore possibilities of counteracting their driver effect with targeted drugs. The results of this project may boost our understanding of the biological role of noncoding regions, help to unravel novel molecular causes of cancer and provide novel targeted therapeutic opportunities for cancer patients.
Summary
Finding the mutations, genes and pathways directly involved in cancer is of paramount importance to understand the mechanisms of tumour development and devise therapeutic strategies to overcome the disease. Due to their role in cancer development and maintenance, the proteins encoded by cancer genes are candidate therapeutic targets. Indeed, in recent years we have witnessed the development of successful cancer-targeting therapies to counteract the effect of driver mutations. Although the coding part of the human genome has now largely been explored in the search for cancer driver mutations in most frequent cancer types, the extent of involvement of noncoding mutations in cancer development remains a mystery. The main challenges faced are: 1) the functional role of most noncoding regions is unknown, and 2) tumours often have thousands of somatic mutations, so that distinguishing cancer driver mutations from bystanders is like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. To overcome these two challenges I propose to analyse the pattern of somatic mutations across thousands of tumours in noncoding regions to identify signals of positive selection. These signals are an indication that mutations in the region have been positively selected during tumour evolution and are thus directly involved in the tumour phenotype. The large scale analysis proposed here will allow us to create a catalogue of noncoding elements involved in different types of cancer upon mutations. We will study in detail a selected set of driver elements to uncover their specific function and role in the tumourigenic process. Furthermore, we will explore possibilities of counteracting their driver effect with targeted drugs. The results of this project may boost our understanding of the biological role of noncoding regions, help to unravel novel molecular causes of cancer and provide novel targeted therapeutic opportunities for cancer patients.
Max ERC Funding
1 995 829 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-12-01, End date: 2021-11-30
Project acronym TIMED
Project Testing the role of Mediterranean thermohaline circulation as a sensor of transient climate events and shaker of North Atlantic Circulation
Researcher (PI) Eva Isabel CACHO LASCORZ
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE10, ERC-2015-CoG
Summary The Mediterranean Sea is an excellent sensor of transient climate conditions at different time scales. Changes in Mediterranean water properties result from complex interactions between the Atlantic inflow, local climate and north and south atmospheric teleconnections. In turn, Mediterranean outflow waters spill into the Atlantic Ocean, thus acting as a net salt and heat source for the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Climate models anticipate changes in these circulation systems within decades; thus it becomes critical to understand the natural range of variations in the Mediterranean Thermohaline Circulation (MedTHC) and whether these can alter the AMOC. An innovative approach, based on both well-established and newly-developed analytical methods will be applied to characterize, qualitatively and quantitatively, past changes in the MedTHC dynamics. Specific time windows representing very different transient periods (18-14 ka BP; 9.5-6.5 ka BP and the last 2 kyr) will be targeted in order to understand the distinctive role that individual forcing mechanisms exerted in controlling MedTHC changes. Particular emphasis will be placed on building robust regional chronologies and proxy records with unprecedented high-resolution. This approach will combine proxy data from sediment cores and deep-sea corals along the main paths of water masses as they cross the Mediterranean basins and exit into the North Atlantic. This paleo-data analysis will be complemented with novel climate model paleo-simulations to test the sensitivity of the AMOC to changes in Mediterranean outflow under varying AMOC conditions. The main goals are to identify: (1) The natural range of MedTHC variability; (2) The forcings and inter-regional teleconnections driving MedTHC changes; (3) The associated impact onto the AMOC. The assessment of the forcings controlling MedTHC and the ensuing impact on the AMOC will allow us to gauge the consequences of future Mediterranean changes.
Summary
The Mediterranean Sea is an excellent sensor of transient climate conditions at different time scales. Changes in Mediterranean water properties result from complex interactions between the Atlantic inflow, local climate and north and south atmospheric teleconnections. In turn, Mediterranean outflow waters spill into the Atlantic Ocean, thus acting as a net salt and heat source for the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Climate models anticipate changes in these circulation systems within decades; thus it becomes critical to understand the natural range of variations in the Mediterranean Thermohaline Circulation (MedTHC) and whether these can alter the AMOC. An innovative approach, based on both well-established and newly-developed analytical methods will be applied to characterize, qualitatively and quantitatively, past changes in the MedTHC dynamics. Specific time windows representing very different transient periods (18-14 ka BP; 9.5-6.5 ka BP and the last 2 kyr) will be targeted in order to understand the distinctive role that individual forcing mechanisms exerted in controlling MedTHC changes. Particular emphasis will be placed on building robust regional chronologies and proxy records with unprecedented high-resolution. This approach will combine proxy data from sediment cores and deep-sea corals along the main paths of water masses as they cross the Mediterranean basins and exit into the North Atlantic. This paleo-data analysis will be complemented with novel climate model paleo-simulations to test the sensitivity of the AMOC to changes in Mediterranean outflow under varying AMOC conditions. The main goals are to identify: (1) The natural range of MedTHC variability; (2) The forcings and inter-regional teleconnections driving MedTHC changes; (3) The associated impact onto the AMOC. The assessment of the forcings controlling MedTHC and the ensuing impact on the AMOC will allow us to gauge the consequences of future Mediterranean changes.
Max ERC Funding
2 400 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-01-01, End date: 2021-12-31
