Zoom Link for Colloquium 11/8/2022 3:00pm PST.
Please email astrobio@uw.edu for zoom presentation password
Presented By Sarah Maurer Associate Professor, Department Chair Chemistry & Biochemistry, Central Connecticut State University
Membranes are essential to life as we know it, and their formation is thought to be one of the key steps in abiogenesis. While fatty acids and other polar hydrocarbons have long been proposed as early membrane formers, they lack the chemical complexity of modern membranes that provide stability, and may have only been present in low concentrations. Recent work by the Maurer Lab found a new membrane forming system from prebiotic precursors that form from the condensation of long chain alcohols and amino acids at pH 2 at 60 °C. The products of this synthesis self-assemble into membranes upon rehydration (see image), without purification or special aqueous conditions. The products have a positively charged headgroup from the amine, and depending on amino acid side chain, a variety of other chemistries. An in-depth discussion of these and other amphiphiles for the origins of life on Earth and elsewhere in the universe will be approached.