Abstract

How does chemistry become biology? The border between chemistry and biology seems small when modern life seamlessly builds and maintains itself with chemical components. But the border is unfathomably larger when we attempt to reconstruct life from its various building blocks. Using synthetic and biological materials we can mimic and understand emergent features of life on earth as it transitioned from abiotic precursors into modern biology. I will first discuss the development of a method to semisynthesize functional transmembrane proteins in artificial phospholipid membranes, a step towards building an artificial cell. Then I will turn to the discovery of a minimal peptide catalyst that replaces an essential protein in yeast, suggesting peptides as evolutionary precursors to enzymes in prebiology.