Dresden 2017 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 49: Physics of the Genesis of Life - Focus Session organized by Moritz Kreysing and Dieter Braun

BP 49.1: Invited Talk

Thursday, March 23, 2017, 09:30–10:00, SCH A251

The Origin of Cellular Life — •Jack W Szostak — Dept. of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02115 USA

The earliest living cells must have had very simple structures in order to emerge spontaneously from the chemistry and physics of the early earth. We are attempting to synthesize such simple artificial cells in order to discover plausible pathways for the transition from chemistry to biology. Very primitive cells may have consisted of a self-replicating nucleic acid genome, encapsulated by a self-replicating cell membrane. We have described robust pathways for the coupled growth and division of primitive cell membranes composed of fatty acids, which were likely to have been available prebiotically. However, no process for the replication of a nucleic acid genome, independent of evolved enzymatic machinery, has yet been described. I will discuss our recent progress towards the realization of an efficient and accurate system for the chemical replication of RNA. I will also discuss physical constraints on the replication of RNA, and the implications of these constraints for efforts to deduce potential environments that could have nurtured the beginnings of life.