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SUMMARY:Energy and Matter at the Origin of Life  - Professor Nick Lane
DTSTART:20211123T180000Z
DTEND:20211123T193000Z
UID:TALK165955@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:92260
DESCRIPTION:The origin of life is one of the biggest questions in science.
  Strangely\, for more than half a century\, the question has been limited 
 largely to a question in synthetic chemistry: how can the ‘building bloc
 ks of life'\, especially the amino acids and nucleotides that comprise pro
 teins\, RNA\, and DNA\, be synthesized under ‘plausible prebiotic condit
 ions. Most of these precursors have been successfully synthesized\, but st
 arting from reactive molecules such as cyanide and cyanamide\, and typical
 ly energized by UV radiation. This has led to a new problem\, which is tha
 t prebiotic chemistry does not link up well with biochemistry as we know i
 t\, which tends to use H2 and CO2. Recent years have seen a radical shift 
 in perspective\, with coherent new ideas emerging from phylogenomics\, mic
 robiology\, astrobiology\, cosmology\, geochemistry\, and electrochemistry
 . I shall give an overview of recent work which suggests that life may hav
 e started in deep-sea alkaline hydrothermal vents. These systems provide l
 abyrinths of interconnected cell-like pores\, with structures that support
  steep gradients similar to those found in modern cells\, potentially driv
 ing the growth and replication of simple protocells. I will finish with so
 me ideas on how the genetic code might have arisen in this setting.
LOCATION:Wolfson Lecture Theatre\,  Department of Chemistry\, Lensfield Ro
 ad
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