I’ve submitted my grades for this academic semester and am now on sabbatical until Fall of 2022. And I’ve been back at my university long enough to have a bit of perspective on my time at NSF. Lately, I’ve been thinking about the big scientific opportunities for new biologists who stand on the threshold of becoming independent investigators. Per my own experience, I focus on basic life sciences although the biomedical implications are often obvious. Here is my list:
- Origin of the ribosome and translation
- Evolution of molecular signal transduction
- Brains embedded in bodies as unified systems
- Environmental microbiomes as sentinels for ecosystem dynamics
- Deep ocean adaptations in eukaryotes
- Biosphere/Lithosphere self-organization principles
- Viruses/animal toxins and their co-evolution with their attack surfaces
- Mnemonic storage in genomic sequences (as distinct from the DNA dogma)
- The biology of the high atmosphere ecosystem
- Evolution of excitable cells
- Beyond signal sequences in protein targeting.
If you are a trainee looking at one of these areas for your own research, please go ahead and drop me a line for my further thoughts.
Discoverers and Discoveries 