NASA Astrobiology Institute Online Workshop: Molecular Paleontology and Resurrection: Rewinding the Tape of Life
A three-day workshop on “Molecular Paleontology and Resurrection: Rewinding the Tape of Life” will be held on November 8, 9 & 10, 2010 using NAI remote communications tools. Participants will discuss ‘top down’ origin of life research, which will ultimately allow us to rewind the evolutionary record of biochemical processes and assemblies.
Organized by John Peters and Loren Williams, PIs of the NAI’s Montana State University and Georgia Tech teams, a primary goal of the workshop is to foster new interdisciplinary collaborations across the community.
Session topics will include
- Phylogenetic Studies on Key Enzymes Involved in Information Pathways and Metabolism
- The Evolutionary History of Protein Synthesis
- Minerals to Enzymes – Bridging the Gap Between Metal Based Abiotic and Biological Chemistry
- Phylogenetic Reconstruction/Resurrection – A Glimpse into Extinct Biochemistry
- What can Modern Biological Energy Transformation Systems Tell Us About Conditions on the Early Earth?
- Linking the Evolutionary Record to the Geological Record
The workshop is open to the worldwide science community and will be accessible via internet browser. Details, including abstract submission and registration forms, are on the NAI website at http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/nai/ool-www. The abstract submission deadline has been extended to October 8, 2010.
Questions and comments may be directed to: John Peters [john.peters@chemistry.montana.edu] or Loren Williams [loren.williams@chemistry.gatech.edu] Workshop Organizing Committee
- Betul Kacar Arslan (Georgia Tech, betul@gatech.edu)
- Eric Boyd (Montana State University, eboyd@montana.edu)
- John Peters (Montana State University, john.peters@chemistry.montana.edu)
- Loren Williams (Georgia Tech, loren.williams@chemistry.gatech.edu)
Preliminary List of Confirmed Speakers
- Tamar Barkar (Rutgers)
- Steve Benner (FAME)
- Robert Blankenship (Washington University, St Louis)
- Eric Boyd (Montana State University)
- Greg Ferry (Penn State)
- George Fox (U Houston)
- Steve Freeland (University of Hawaii, Manoa)
- Eric Gaucher (Georgia Tech)
- Jennifer Glass (Arizona State University)
- Nick Hud (Georgia Tech)
- Betuel Kacar Arslan (Georgia Tech)
- Eugene Koonin (NIH)
- Ram Krishnamurty (Scripps)
- John Peters (Montana State University)
- Andrew Pohorille (NASA Ames Research Center)
- Lynn Rothschild (NASA Ames Research Center)
- Mike Russell (JPL)
- Nita Sahai (University of Wisconsin, Madison)
- Sergey Steinberg (U Montreal)
- Loren Williams (Georgia Tech)
- Felisa Wolfe-Simon (Arizona State University)
