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DTSTAMP:20261024T144748Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190918T145513Z
DTSTART:20190920T160000Z
DTEND:20190920T173000Z
UID:event2191@bu.edu
URL:http://physics.bu.edu/internal/events/show/2191
SUMMARY:Statistical Mechanics of Microbiomes
DESCRIPTION:Featuring Robert Marsland\, Boston University\n\nPart of the Bi
	ophysics/Condensed Matter Seminar Series.\n\nNext-generation sequencing\, h
	igh-throughput metabolomics and other measurement technologies have opened 
	vast new horizons for collecting data on the structure and function of micr
	obial communities. But it remains unclear how to leverage this data for eff
	ective intervention in medical and agricultural applications. We do not kno
	w which quantities can be reliably predicted\, which are hopelessly conting
	ent\, and what the predictors are for the former. In this talk\, I will dra
	w on conceptual tools from Statistical Physics\, which were designed to ans
	wer precisely these sorts of questions. In particular\, I will argue that t
	he key features of community structure are encoded in a susceptibility matr
	ix\, which contain the response of species population sizes to small change
	s in growth rates. I will show how to estimate this matrix in different sce
	narios from existing data sets\, and then explain how it can be used to clu
	ster species into functionally redundant groups for enhanced predictability
	 of community composition.
LOCATION:SCI 352\, 590 Commonwealth Avenue\, 02215
STATUS:CONFIRMED
CLASS:PUBLIC
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