Journal article
Natural search algorithms as a bridge between organisms, evolution, and ecology
AM Hein, F Carrara, DR Brumley, R Stocker, SA Levin
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | NATL ACAD SCIENCES | Published : 2016
Abstract
The ability to navigate is a hallmark of living systems, from single cells to higher animals. Searching for targets, such as food or mates in particular, is one of the fundamental navigational tasks many organisms must execute to survive and reproduce. Here, we argue that a recent surge of studies of the proximate mechanisms that underlie search behavior offers a new opportunity to integrate the biophysics and neuroscience of sensory systems with ecological and evolutionary processes, closing a feedback loop that promises exciting new avenues of scientific exploration at the frontier of systems biology.
Grants
Awarded by Army Research Office
Funding Acknowledgements
We thank B. Martin and S. Swanson for useful comments on earlier versions of this manuscript. This work was supported by a James S. McDonnell Foundation fellowship (to A.M.H.); Army Research Office Grants W911NG-11-1-0385 and W911NF-14-1-0431 (to S.A.L.); Simons Foundation Grant 395890 (to S.A.L.); a Swiss National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowship (to F.C.); a Human Frontier Science Program Cross-Disciplinary fellowship (to D.R.B.); and Gordon and Betty Moore Marine Microbial Initiative Investigator Award GBMF3783 (to R.S.).