Origins of Life Systems Chemistry, John Sutherland, Cambridge

John Sutherland

Programme Leader, Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge

"Origins of Life Systems Chemistry"

By reconciling previously conflicting views about the origin of life – in which one or other cellular subsystem precedes, and then ‘invents’ the others – we suggested a new modus operandi for its study. Guided by this, we uncovered a cyanosulfidic protometabolism which uses UV light and the stoichiometric reducing power of hydrogen sulfide to convert hydrogen cyanide, and a couple of other prebiotic feedstock molecules which can be derived therefrom, into nucleic acid, peptide and lipid building blocks. We are now considering the transition of systems from the inanimate to the animate state through intermediate stages of partial ‘aliveness’, and recent progress in the elaboration of building blocks into larger (oligomeric) molecules and systems in this context will also be described.

The Origins of Life Speaker Series explores the conditions and circumstances that led to the diversity of life on Earth. The interdisciplinary series will connect the formation of planets, the evolution of early Earth, and the complex chemistry and delivery of the fundamental organic molecules that serve as the building blocks of early life, and how they can establish complex, self-replicating systems of cells and genetic material.

Learn more: https://physicalsciences.uchicago.edu/events/origins-of-life-speaker-series/

➡ Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4QIJSEujVRWTf9zLZy9l6w?sub_confirmation=1

About the University of Chicago Physical Sciences Division
The Physical Sciences Division (PSD) at the University of Chicago has a rich history of advancing and defining new fields of discovery in the physical and mathematical sciences, and this tradition of innovation continues today. Our inquiry and impact spans from the edge of the observable universe to human-computer interaction, from biophysical materials science to the geologic record of seawater composition, from gravitational waves to geometric flows, and beyond.

The division includes the academic departments of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Chemistry, Computer Science, Geophysical Sciences, Mathematics, Physics, and Statistics. In addition, PSD is home to a number of interdisciplinary research institutes and centers, including the Enrico Fermi Institute, the James Franck Institute, and the Kavli Center for Cosmological Physics.

#UChicagoPSD on the Web:
Home: https://physicalsciences.uchicago.edu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UChicagoPSD
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/UChicagoPSD
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/UChicagoPSD

University of Chicago Physical Sciences Division on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4QIJSEujVRWTf9zLZy9l6w

Видео Origins of Life Systems Chemistry, John Sutherland, Cambridge канала Physical Sciences Division, University of Chicago