Events
2024 Events
Origin of Life Series Talk: The ecology of collectively coded information
Thursday, February 15, 2024 2pm
Speaker:
Arvind Murugan, Department of Physics and James Franck Institute, University of Chicago
Abstract:
Life today is based on information coded in long molecules (DNA or RNA). The replication of information in such a long molecule is carried out by complex protein-based machinery today; such machinery was likely not available in an earlier hypothesized `RNA world’ stage of life on earth.
We investigate an alternative possibility – the virtual circular genome hypothesis – that the genetic information defining an `organism’ does not need to coded in one physical molecule. Instead, that information can be collectively encoded in an overlapping way across an `ecosystem’ of interdependent molecules (in this case, many short strands of RNA). We discuss the conditions under which such collectively coded molecular information can successfully replicate itself and solve key problems in the origin of life.
Origin of Life Series Talk: From 2D to 3D: Non-trivial protocol transformations in a flat world
Thursday, March 28, 2024, 2pm
Speaker: Irep Gozen, Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway, University of Oslo
My soft matter research group investigates autonomous transformations of molecular phospholipid films on solid interfaces into cell-like compartments through a sequence of topological changes. These surface-based processes are initiated by contact and wetting of synthetic as well as natural surfaces by lipids and, depending on the surface type and ambient conditions, result in the formation of various primitive cell morphologies with unique features. In my talk, I will elucidate how we exploit the tiny energy gain arising from contact of molecular lipid films with solid interfaces to drive the transformation from 2D to 3D assemblies, their architecture, chemical communication, and cargo transport. Based upon minimal assumptions it is conceivable that such process could have occurred on the early Earth, where the autonomous formation of simple membrane compartments is presumed to have enabled encapsulation of nucleotides and prebiotic chemistry precursors. The presentation will highlight the implications of new findings regarding protocell diversity and selection at the origin of life and argue that materials properties-driven autonomous processes on solid natural interfaces might have had a greater role in protocell development towards life than currently considered.
Origin of Life Series Talk: Title The Lifecycle of Planetary Magnetic Fields
Thursday, April 11, 2024, 2pm
Speaker: Peter Driscoll, Earth & Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Science
Planetary magnetic fields offer the first barrier between atmospheres and the solar wind, and are expected to play a central role in long-term habitability. In this talk we discuss why planetary magnetic fields are important to planetary habitability and how they change over billions of years of planetary evolution. We discuss the ubiquity of planetary magnetic fields in the Solar System and the prospects for detecting exoplanet magnetic fields. We review the requirements for magnetic field generation by dynamo action, general limits to thermal dynamo action, and how the planetary cooling rate affects magnetic field evolution. We will highlight how Earth’s magnetic field has evolved over the last 2 billion years, and how paleomagnetism and dynamo theory can be used in tandem to infer the dynamical evolution of the deep interior.
Origin of Life Series Symposium
Thursday, May 9, 2024, 9am-3:45pm, Ida Noyes Hall
Speakers:
John Sutherland, Medical Research Council
Nicholas Tosca, University of Cambridge
Ilaria Pascucci, University of Arizona
Gerald Joyce, Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Past Events
2021 Origin of Life Speaker Series
Inaugural Scientific Conference Hosted by the Origins Federation (Partnership between the University of Chicago, Harvard University, ETH-Zurich, and Cambridge University) 2023
