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SUMMARY:Recreating first steps of Life using non-equilibrium settings - Di
 eter Braun\, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich
DTSTART:20220118T130000Z
DTEND:20220118T140000Z
UID:TALK165643@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Camille Scalliet
DESCRIPTION:How could life emerge on the early Earth? Our experiments prob
 e the first steps of molecular evolution by non-equilibrium experiments. T
 ypically\, we used millimeter-scaled temperature gradients\, including the
  effects of air-water interfaces. These environments accumulate molecules\
 , select them for length\, enable the strand separation of RNA and allow c
 ontinuous feeding of fresh molecules. Using sequencing\, we see diverse pa
 thways in sequence space for structure to emerge from randomness. These ex
 perimental findings make us better understand what are the pitfalls to est
 ablish an open ended evolution. In many cases\, these studies are still pe
 rformed with the help of proteins\, but we converge towards conditions tha
 t allow RNA only experiments. By balancing prebiotic chemistry with the ph
 ysics of surface tension\, evaporation\, CO2\, thermophoresis and gravity 
 in heated chambers we progress to understand the autocatalytic networks th
 at could lead to Darwinian evolution.
LOCATION:Center for Mathematical Sciences\, Lecture room MR11\, or https:/
 /maths-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/98016675669
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