The Gordon Research Seminar on Origin Of Life is a unique forum for graduate students, post-docs, and other scientists with comparable levels of experience and education to present and exchange new data and cutting edge ideas.
The origin of life community encompasses disciplines such as physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, molecular biology, ecology, geology, and planetary science. Within the origin of life context, new research from the fields of astrochemistry and planetary science, the RNA world, geobiology, genomics and early life will be presented and discussed.
Gordon Research Conferences
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Carnegie Institute of Washington
International Society for Study of Origin of Life
|
| SATURDAY |
| 2:00 pm | Check-In Begins |
| 3:00 pm - 3:15 pm | Introductory Comments by GRC Site Staff / Welcome by the GRS Conference Chair |
| 3:15 pm - 4:00 pm | Keynote Lecture |
| 3:15 pm - 3:45 pm | Antonio Lazcano (Facultad de Ciencias, UNAM)
"Prebiotic evolution, self-organization and the origin of life: the happy liaison?" |
| 3:45 pm - 4:00 pm | Discussion |
| 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm | Poster Session I |
| 6:00 pm | Dinner |
| 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm | Prebiotic Chemistry and the Environments of Early Life |
| Discussion Leader: Sara Walker (Dartmouth College) |
| 7:30 pm - 7:50 pm | Maria Colin-Garcia (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México)
"The role of minerals as concentration agents: The case of HCN" |
| 7:50 pm - 8:00 pm | Discussion |
| 8:00 pm - 8:20 pm | Shohei Ohara (Carnegie Institution of Washington)
"Surface-catalyzed peptide formation on pyrite" |
| 8:20 pm - 8:30 pm | Discussion |
| 8:30 pm - 8:50 pm | Jeff Bowman (University of Washington)
"Implications of a hydrated gel in the sea surface microlayer for prebiotic chemistry and the origin of life" |
| 8:50 pm - 9:00 pm | Discussion |
| 9:00 pm - 9:30 pm | Eoghan Reeves (Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
"Methanethiol: A geochemical link between carbon and sulfur in seafloor hydrothermal systems?" |
| 9:30 pm | Poster Session I (continued) |
| SUNDAY |
| 7:30 am - 8:30 am | Breakfast |
| 9:00 am - 12:30 pm | The RNA World and the Transition to Life |
| Discussion Leader: William Brazelton (University of Washington) |
| 9:00 am - 9:20 am | Julien Derr (Harvard University)
"Emergence of complexity in the RNA world" |
| 9:20 am - 9:30 am | Discussion |
| 9:30 am - 9:50 am | Aaron Burton (Portland State University)
"Enhancing the prebiotic relevance of a set of covalently self-assembling, autorecombining RNAs through in vitro selection" |
| 9:50 am - 10:00 am | Discussion |
| 10:00 am - 10:20 am | Megan Cole (Georgia Institute of Technology)
"Transition from the RNA world to the ribonucleoprotein world: Selection of an amino acid alphabet" |
| 10:20 am - 10:30 am | Discussion |
| 10:30 am - 11:00 am | Coffee Break |
| 11:00 am - 11:20 am | Aaron Goldman (University of Washington)
"The rapid development of early protein translation" |
| 11:20 am - 11:30 am | Discussion |
| 11:30 am - 11:50 am | Sarah Maurer (University of California Santa Cruz/University of Southern Denmark)
"Membrane and metabolism co-dependence in a minimal protocell" |
| 11:50 am - 12:00 pm | Discussion |
| 12:00 pm - 12:30 pm | Selection of GRS attendee to give a talk at the GRC Origin of Life |
| 12:30 pm | Lunch |
| 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm | Poster Session II |
| 3:30 pm | Gordon Research Seminar ends. For those attending the associated Gordon Research Conference, please check in at the GRC Office beginning at 4:00 pm. |
Last Updated: December 31, 2009