{"568941":{"#nid":"568941","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Popular Science Puts Georgia Tech\u2019s Will Ratcliff on \u2018Brilliant 10\u2019 List","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWill Ratcliff is having a moment in the spotlight for getting yeast and algae to jump through hoops to new evolutionary heights.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.popsci.com\/tags\/brilliant-10\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Emagazine \u003Cem\u003EPopular Science\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E has heaved the researcher from the Georgia Institute of Technology into \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.popsci.com\/man-who-solves-mysteries-evolution\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eits annual list \u201cThe Brilliant 10,\u201d a select roster \u003C\/a\u003Eof \u201cthe 10 most innovative young minds in science and technology.\u201d\u0026nbsp; Ratcliff was praised for advancing the study of cellular evolution.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPopSci\u003C\/em\u003E cited his work demonstrating how single-cell organisms may have transitioned into simple multicellular organisms ages ago.\u0026nbsp; It\u2019s widely seen as an arduous evolutionary leap, since single cells had to forfeit a lot of their own fitness for the greater good of creating viable cell groups.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWilliam Ratcliff revealed surprising insights into what might have been necessary for this transition to occur,\u201d \u003Cem\u003EPopular Science\u003C\/em\u003E wrote in its September\/October edition. He has illuminated \u201cone of the greatest mysteries of life.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch4\u003EThe needs of the many\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ratclifflab.biology.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ERatcliff, an assistant professor \u003C\/a\u003Ein Georgia Tech\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosci.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E, has put thousands of generations of yeast and many generations of algae cells through stresses in the lab devised to get them to evolve better survival strategies around forming cohesive groups.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re figuring out kind of clever ways to get them to form groups and then for those groups to become more complex,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe idea is to end up with a rudimentary multicellular being with cells taking on specialized roles, a very early step on the pathway to organ development.\u0026nbsp; But the first advantage to group formation is simple -- size. Bigger is often better.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA lot of small predators have small mouths that are great at eating single-cells,\u201d Ratcliff said.\u0026nbsp; But \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.evolution-outreach.com\/content\/8\/1\/13\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ebig multicellular cell clusters are too big for these predators\u003C\/a\u003E to get their mouths around. Clustered cells survive to pass on their genes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch4\u003ERace to the bottom\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo accelerate the evolution of yeast from individuals cells into \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/109\/5\/1595.long\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ecell groups called \u201csnowflakes,\u201d one of his signature achievements\u003C\/a\u003E, Ratcliff has selected for yeast cells that sink more quickly.\u0026nbsp; There, again, big clusters sink better than single cells.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOnce clusters are done outcompeting the unicells, they compete against each other. \u201cIt\u2019s remarkable how quickly snowflake yeast clusters evolve new traits that let them win this race,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile the group gains various strengths, it sacrifices the viability of individual cells.\u0026nbsp; \u201cThey evolve a division of labor in the group, in which some of them commit suicide,\u201d Ratcliff said.\u0026nbsp; That changes reproductive patterns, which makes the clusters\u2019 progeny more competitive.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe loss of individual cell fitness is extensive.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe more robust a cluster gets, the less likely its individuals are to survive if they are caused to revert back to individual cells.\u0026nbsp; It\u2019s like an odd twist on the traditional marriage vows: Part, and you will die.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMuch of Ratcliff\u2019s research is funded by NASA\u2019s Exobiology program and the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch4\u003EFelt it coming\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBefore \u003Cem\u003EPopular Science\u003C\/em\u003E called for an interview for its four-paragraph nod, Ratcliff had sensed something was coming.\u0026nbsp; For a few months, while the magazine cemented its list, it asked around at scientific societies about noteworthy up-and-coming researchers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a result, Ratcliff received some veiled tips.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA couple of colleagues of mine said, \u2018Hey man, I got a call from a reporter. I can\u2019t tell you anything about it, but you may be hearing something soon,\u2019\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen \u003Cem\u003EPopSci\u003C\/em\u003E called, a reporter told Ratcliff that many scientists had mentioned him, strongly influencing the decision to name him one of \u0022The Brilliant 10.\u0022\u0026nbsp; \u201cThat was very touching that people within the research community said to them they should look at my lab,\u201d Ratcliff said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch4\u003EHail Mary pass\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELife\u2019s small coincidences have helped guide Ratcliff\u2019s academic strivings down the path of evolutionary research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHis career in biology spawned from childhood, when his parents carted him and his brother Felix off in their summers to woodland family cabins next to craggy Pacific Coast cliffs near Mendocino, California.\u0026nbsp; \u201cThere was really nothing to do except to run around the forest and the ocean checking out the lives of plants and animals,\u201d Ratcliff said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey got hooked; both brothers became biologists.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPlants became Ratcliff\u2019s passion at an early age, which led to a bachelor of science in plant biology from the University of California, Davis, but that threw his career a serendipitous curve. \u201cI thought it would have a lot to do with ecology, but it turned out to be mostly cellular biology.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe decision to see if yeast cells could be coaxed into making the leap to multicellularity was also slightly capricious.\u0026nbsp; \u201cThere was a lot of doubt surrounding it, but I thought, \u2018Why not just give it a try and see,\u2019\u0022 said Ratcliff, whose Ph.D. is in ecology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe was astonished when that longshot worked.\u0026nbsp; \u201cIt was a kind of Hail Mary pass,\u201d he said. It led to a dedicated research specialization and a notable body of continuing work.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E-------\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/news\/556431\/insights-sex-and-death-mutant-roundworm\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ERead about a tiny mutation triggering massive evolutionary change\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Biologist honored for illuminating evolutionary mystery"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWill Ratcliff tried something many scientists doubted would ever succeed. He pushed yeast to evolve in the lab from single-cell to multicellular beings. \u201cIt was a kind of Hail Mary pass,\u201d he said. It worked, and opened up a path to sustained evolutionary research. This year, it landed Ratcliff, and Georgia Tech, in a pageant of notable researchers, \u003Cem\u003EPopular Science\u003C\/em\u003E\u0027s annual list of \u0022The Brilliant 10.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Magazine Popular Science has honored Georgia Tech biologist Will Ratcliff on its annual list of \u201cthe 10 most innovative young minds in science and technology.\u0022"}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2016-08-26 15:18:28","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:22:26","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-08-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-08-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"568891":{"id":"568891","type":"image","title":"Popular Science honors Will Ratcliff","body":null,"created":"1472235383","gmt_created":"2016-08-26 18:16:23","changed":"1475895376","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:56:16","alt":"Popular Science honors Will Ratcliff","file":{"fid":"218314","name":"popsci-001.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/popsci-001.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/popsci-001.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1186358,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/popsci-001.jpg?itok=j5tIskRN"}},"568901":{"id":"568901","type":"image","title":"Biological Sciences researcher Will Ratcliff in his lab","body":null,"created":"1472236745","gmt_created":"2016-08-26 18:39:05","changed":"1475895376","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:56:16","alt":"Biological Sciences researcher Will Ratcliff in his lab","file":{"fid":"218315","name":"will.ratcliff.lab_.scaled.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/will.ratcliff.lab_.scaled.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/will.ratcliff.lab_.scaled.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2589543,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/will.ratcliff.lab_.scaled.jpg?itok=8NSvfZYQ"}},"568921":{"id":"568921","type":"image","title":"Northern California nature inspired Will Ratcliff","body":null,"created":"1472237550","gmt_created":"2016-08-26 18:52:30","changed":"1475895376","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:56:16","alt":"Northern California nature inspired Will Ratcliff","file":{"fid":"218317","name":"mendocino.ca_.rocky_.coast_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mendocino.ca_.rocky_.coast_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mendocino.ca_.rocky_.coast_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3505552,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mendocino.ca_.rocky_.coast_.jpg?itok=nBxTQXWE"}},"568911":{"id":"568911","type":"image","title":"William Ratcliff portrait","body":null,"created":"1472237098","gmt_created":"2016-08-26 18:44:58","changed":"1475895376","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:56:16","alt":"William Ratcliff portrait","file":{"fid":"218316","name":"will.ratcliff.portrait.scaled.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/will.ratcliff.portrait.scaled.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/will.ratcliff.portrait.scaled.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2442555,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/will.ratcliff.portrait.scaled.jpg?itok=M4UMOOcy"}}},"media_ids":["568891","568901","568921","568911"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"79271","name":"algae"},{"id":"170638","name":"Brilliant 10"},{"id":"3028","name":"evolution"},{"id":"170640","name":"popsci"},{"id":"89691","name":"popular science"},{"id":"166882","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"108591","name":"Will Ratcliff"},{"id":"170334","name":"yeast"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWriter and contact: Ben Brumfield\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 660-1408\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}