BY David Terraso
Georgia Tech and Emory University have received a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to establish The Origins Project, a center for integrated research, education and public outreach focused on the chemistry that may have led to the origin of life. The center also includes the participation of Spelman College in Atlanta and Jackson State University in Mississippi.
The NSF is supporting The Origins Project as part of an effort to address "big picture" questions in chemistry through the formation of Chemical Bonding Centers.
"Our ultimate goal is to understand which molecules and which chemical reactions started life on Earth around 3 billion years ago and to engage the public in this scientific quest," said Nicholas Hud, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Georgia Tech and principal investigator of The Origins Project.
David Lynn, an Emory chemistry and biology professor and the center's co-leader, said, "We now know the molecular coding sequence for the human genome, a scientific achievement that seemed very remote two decades ago. We believe it is also only a matter of time and effort before we will know what is required to get life started."
Researchers will seek to understand what molecules were present on prebiotic Earth and how molecular building blocks that are either identical or similar to ones found in life today can spontaneously form larger molecules, similar to proteins and DNA, that are essential for life to exist.
"We are particularly excited about the outreach projects of the center that involve college and high school students," said Hud. "The origin of life is one of the most intriguing questions of all time and one that can certainly attract young people to the field of chemistry, an area of national need.
"It's a big puzzle," he said. "We will be looking at several chemical hypotheses regarding the origin of life. We want to understand the formation of the first lifelike polymers, and from that point understand the evolution of these polymers into something that could have given rise to life as we know it."
Lynn added, "The creation of this center in Atlanta also provides us outreach opportunities for dialogue and discussion around some of the more divisive issues between science and religion and the origin of life."
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