Abstract:
The emergence and evolution of functional polymers is a key step for the origins of life on Earth and perhaps beyond. Polymers play an important role as a catalyst to drive and direct certain chemical reactions, as well as being transferred across cellular entities as an information molecule. However, the question remains as to how various prebiotic environments influenced the synthesis and selection of primitive polymers and their precursors. In this talk I will first provide several examples of synthetic approaches that are combined with analytical techniques to understand how various geochemical settings on early Earth and Enceladus can be suitable for oligomer synthesis and evolution. These include mineral surface-organics interaction as well as the two-phase system consist of water and CO2 fluid. Latter half of my talk will be focused on the top-down synthetic approach to explore the functional space of various biopolymers. Especially high-throughput screening of random protein-RNA library combined with computational analysis, can shed light into the cooperative and coevolving aspects of protein and RNA, with regard to the origin of ribosome. Together, these approaches can be collectively described as “Synthetic Astrobiology”, which formulates the basis of my current and future collaborative researches that I am willing to continue at ELSI. 

Speaker: Dr. Kosuke Fujishima, ELSI, Tokyo Tech

Date: Friday, 21 February, 10:00-11:00 at Mishima Hall

Host: Naohiro Yoshida