Abstract: 
When we seek to define the limits of life, on Earth or elsewhere in the universe, we tend to look first to the examples of microbial life around us. Studies of the most extreme environments on Earth have provided numerous examples of “extremophile” microorganisms highly adapted to very specific environmental niches due to evolutionary selective pressures. While of great interest in determining the limits of life on Earth, terrestrial conditions rarely extend to the ranges of environmental conditions found on other planetary bodies. In order to establish a more generalized view of the limits of life, we need to examine the molecular-level processes that can limit life and any processes that can extend these limits. My work focusses on identifying a simplified molecular tookit of molecules that allow microorganisms, classified as “polyextremophiles”, to survive a wide range of conditions considered to be limiting for life as we know it. By describing the mechanisms by which these same molecules and ions protect against the destruction of vital cellular processes under many different conditions, we gain insights into the molecular limits of life on Earth and potentially elsewhere.

Speaker: Dr Adrienne Kish, Associate Professor, National Museum of Natural History (Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle) Paris, France.

Speaker bio: 
Dr Adrienne Kish is an extremophile microbiologist whose projects explore the molecular underpinnings of life at the limits of survival (extremes in temperature, pH, salinity, pressure, radiation exposure). This means that despite being a microbiologist, she spends much of her time collaborating with chemists and geologists at the interface where the sciences interconnect.

Host: Tony Jia, ELSI.

Date: Fri, 11 September at 15:30 JST (Fri, 11 September 2020 at 06:30 UTC)

Venue: Online