# MIRA: Systems genomics of complex traits

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF OREGON · 2020 · $366,191

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The vast majority of individual susceptibility to sickness and disease in humans is generated by complex
interactions between multiple genetic loci and the environment, yet we still have very little understanding of
how the map between genotype and phenotype is structured or how this structure influences the response to
the environment and long-term evolutionary change. In particular, complex genetic networks should generate
pleiotropic relationships among traits whose functional coupling can make individual effects difficult to examine
using traditional knockout approaches. Although the structure of these networks is known to be strongly
influenced by genomic context, both in terms of their immediate functional response and in the long-term
evolution of their structure, we still have little understanding of how all of these factors interact within complex
living systems. The goal of this project is to address these questions as part of a broad research framework
using three specific experimental paradigms with the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and its relatives as
model systems: (1) How are complex regulatory systems structured and how does this structure determine
their evolutionary dynamics?, (2) What are the drivers of genomic hyperdiversity and how can this diversity be
used as a tool to understand the evolution of genetic systems?, and (3) How does the genomic landscape of
variation, recombination and sexual reproduction influence the response to selection? These questions will be
addressed using an innovative integration of approaches drawn from genomics, single-cell analysis,
microfluidic engineering, high-throughput phenotyping, genetic transformation, and computational biology. This
research uses a systems-genetics approach that integrates an understanding of natural genetic variation within
a strong functional hypothesis-testing framework to understand the function and evolution of complex
regulatory systems with critical implications for human health.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10006841
- **Project number:** 5R35GM131838-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
- **Principal Investigator:** Patrick C. Phillips
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $366,191
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-03 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10006841

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10006841, MIRA: Systems genomics of complex traits (5R35GM131838-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10006841. Licensed CC0.

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