Molecular Origins of Life, Munich 2023

Session

Session IV

Jun 20, 2023, 4:00 PM

Online

Conveners

Session IV: Talks

• Matthew W. Powner (UCL, UK)
• Zoe R. Todd (U Washington, USA)

Session IV: Q&A

• There are no conveners in this block

63. On the unified roots of biological peptides and their spontaneous differentiation

Matthew W. Powner (UCL, UK)

6/20/23, 4:00 PM

The chemical unity of life’s universal metabolites provides compelling evidence that a simple set of predisposed reactions predicated the appearance of life on Earth. However, the nature of the chemistry that preceded life remains an open question. Prebiotic systems chemistry is now providing unprecedented scope to explore the origins of life and an exciting new perspective on a...

65. Growth of prebiotically plausible fatty acid vesicles proceeds in the presence of prebiotic amino acids, dipeptides, sugars, and nucleic acid components

Zoe R. Todd (U Washington, USA)

6/20/23, 4:25 PM

Fatty acid vesicles may have played a role in the origin of life as a major structural component of protocells, with the potential for encapsulation of genetic materials. Vesicles that grew and divided more rapidly than other vesicles could have had a selective advantage. Fatty acid vesicles grow by incorporating additional fatty acids from micelles, and certain prebiotic molecules (e.g.,...