Sunday
4:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Arrival and Check-in
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm
Introductory Comments by GRC Site Staff / Welcome from the GRC Chair
7:40 pm - 9:30 pm
Keynote Session: Meteorites in the Origin of Life
Exogenous synthesis is a major means of investigating plausible prebiotic synthesis. This session will host speakers who investigate prebiotic chemistry in meteorites, and how the OSIRIS-REX mission will address some of these questions.
Discussion Leader: Jose Aponte (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, USA)
7:40 pm - 7:45 pm
Opening Remarks
7:45 pm - 7:50 pm
Introduction by Discussion Leader
7:50 pm - 8:30 pm
Daniel Glavin (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, USA)
"Exogenous Delivery of Organic Matter by Comets and Primitive Asteroids: An Inventory for the Origin of Life"
8:30 pm - 8:40 pm
Discussion
8:40 pm - 9:20 pm
Terence Kee (University of Leeds, United Kingdom)
"Meteoritic Phosphorus. Mobilising and Activating P"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm
Discussion
Monday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
8:30 am - 9:00 am
Group Photo
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Prebiotic Environments
The prebiotic inventory is a product of its environment. There has been substantial research in prebiotic synthesis since the first experiments 65 years ago. This session will discuss some of the routes that lead to the molecules that make up life.
Discussion Leader: Bruce Damer (University of California, Santa Cruz, USA)
9:00 am - 9:05 am
Introduction by Discussion Leader
9:05 am - 9:50 am
Laurie Barge (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA)
"Experimentally Simulating Environmental Influences on Prebiotic Chemistry"
9:50 am - 10:00 am
Discussion
10:00 am - 10:30 am
Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:15 am
Shigenori Maruyama (Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan)
"Nine Requirements for the Birth Place of Life and Three-Step Evolution of First Life"
11:15 am - 11:30 am
Discussion
11:30 am - 12:15 pm
Nita Sahai (University of Akron, USA)
"Priming the Origin of Life by Concentrating Phosphate and Magnesium on Prebiotic Earth"
12:15 pm - 12:30 pm
Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Free Time
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Power Hour
The GRC Power Hour is an optional informal gathering open to all meeting participants. It is designed to help address the challenges women face in science and support the professional growth of women in our communities by providing an open forum for discussion and mentoring.
Organizer: Nicolle Zellner (Albion College, USA)
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Habitable Worlds
Planetary environments aside from the earth provide new possibilities to understand how life may have originated elsewhere in the solar system and universe.
Discussion Leader: Christopher Adcock (University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA)
7:30 pm - 7:35 pm
Introduction by Discussion Leader
7:35 pm - 8:00 pm
Maguy Jaber (Laboratoire d'Archéologie Moléculaire et Structurale (LAMS), Sorbonne University, France)
"Conspiration of Minerals and Organics in Origins of Life"
8:00 pm - 8:10 pm
Discussion
8:10 pm - 8:40 pm
Stephen Mojzsis (University of Colorado Boulder, USA)
"GeoAstronomy and the Prospect for Habitable Worlds in the Galactic Neighborhood"
8:40 pm - 8:50 pm
Discussion
8:50 pm - 9:20 pm
Catherine Neish (The University of Western Ontario, Canada)
"Titan: Ingredients for Life"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm
Discussion
Tuesday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Phosphorus in the Origin of Life
The element phosphorus is a key minor element in life. This session will cover phosphorus-specific prebiotic chemistry, and the early evidence from the geologic record of what phosphorus compounds may have been present.
Discussion Leader: Heather Abbott-Lyon (Kennesaw State University, USA)
9:00 am - 9:05 am
Introduction by Discussion Leader
9:05 am - 9:50 am
Ruth Blake (Yale University, USA)
"Clues to Phosphate Chemistry on the Early Earth from Oxygen Isotopes"
9:50 am - 10:05 am
Discussion
10:05 am - 10:35 am
Coffee Break
10:35 am - 11:20 am
Yan Liu (Xiamen University, China)
"The Phosphorus Catalysis and Regulation for Life Under Prebiotic Conditions"
11:20 am - 11:30 am
Discussion
11:30 am - 12:15 pm
Solange Duhamel (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, USA)
"Phosphorus, the Staff of Life: Aquatic Microorganisms Strategies in the Face of Phosphate Scarcity"
12:15 pm - 12:30 pm
Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Assembly at the Transition of Prebiotic Chemistry and Biochemistry
Life is defined at least in part when Darwinian evolution can act on replicating material. This session will cover how selection and replication may have first begun.
Discussion Leader: Aaron Engelhart (University of Minnesota, USA)
7:30 pm - 7:35 pm
Introduction by Discussion Leader
7:35 pm - 8:00 pm
Donald Burke (University of Missouri, USA)
"When RNAs Collide: Emergent Properties from Bioactive RNA"
8:00 pm - 8:10 pm
Discussion
8:10 pm - 8:40 pm
Nicholas Hud (Georgia Tech, USA)
"Spontaneous Self-Assembly of Nucleic Acids"
8:40 pm - 8:50 pm
Discussion
8:50 pm - 9:20 pm
Irene Chen (University of California, Santa Barbara, USA)
"Chemical Activity Landscapes of the RNA World"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm
Discussion
Wednesday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Early Evolution
Some of the earliest evidence for life comes from studies of ancient genomes, and from studies of the rock record. This session will cover new insight into origins from both these fields.
Discussion Leader: Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy (The Scripps Research Institute, USA)
9:00 am - 9:05 am
Introduction by Discussion Leader
9:05 am - 9:50 am
Antonio Lazcano Araujo (Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico)
"The Gene Content of the Last Common Ancestor: Il Catalogo รจ Questo"
9:50 am - 10:00 am
Discussion
10:00 am - 10:30 am
Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:15 am
Daniel Segre (Boston University, USA)
"Early Core Metabolisms"
11:15 am - 11:30 am
Discussion
11:30 am - 12:15 pm
Paula Welander (Stanford University, USA)
"Insights into the Primordial Membrane Through Analyses of Extant Archaeal and Bacterial Lipid Biosynthesis"
12:15 pm - 12:30 pm
Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Business Meeting
Nominations for the Next Vice Chair; Fill in Conference Evaluation Forms; Discuss Future Site and Scheduling Preferences; Election of the Next Vice Chair
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Prebiotic Assembly
From monomers to polymers, the formation of life may have required genetic material. The synthesis of these genetic polymers from simpler components remains problematic, and will be the focus of this session.
Discussion Leader: Paul Bracher (Saint Louis University, USA)
7:30 pm - 7:35 pm
Introduction by Discussion Leader
7:35 pm - 8:05 pm
Matthew Powner (University College London, United Kingdom)
"System Chemistry: Prebiotic Selection Overcoming Clutter"
8:05 pm - 8:15 pm
Discussion
8:15 pm - 8:45 pm
Irena Mamajanov (Earth-Life Science Institute, Japan)
"Functional Non-Biopolymers and Their Implications for the Origins of Life"
8:45 pm - 8:55 pm
Discussion
8:55 pm - 9:20 pm
Yoshihiro Furukawa (Tohoku University, Japan)
"Prebiotic Sugars on the Early Earth"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm
Discussion
Thursday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Growing the Origins Research Field
Research in the Origins of Life is funded primarily by national science agencies. This session will feature talks by those who administer research funding, as well as presentations by those who have employed origins work to benefit fields outside of pure research.
Discussion Leader: Michael Gaylor (Dakota State University, USA)
9:00 am - 9:05 am
Introduction by Discussion Leader
9:05 am - 9:50 am
Steven Benner (Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution (FfAME), USA)
"Spinning off Astrobiology in Diagnostics and Medicine"
9:50 am - 10:00 am
Discussion
10:00 am - 10:30 am
Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:15 am
Lindsay Hays (NASA HQ/JPL, USA)
"NASA and the Origins of Life"
11:15 am - 11:30 am
Discussion
11:30 am - 12:15 pm
Daniella Scalice (NASA Astrobiology Program, USA)
"Astrobiology as Creation Story: Bringing Together Scientific and Cultural Knowledge to Empower Native American Youth"
12:15 pm - 12:30 pm
Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Selected Poster Presentations / Young Investigator Presentations
The GRC is preceded by the Gordon Research Seminar, which is open to new researchers in the origins field. This session will include talks by speakers chosen from the GRS, allowing them to provide a full glimpse on the up-and-coming research in the field, and will also feature short talks from the poster sessions.
Discussion Leader: Nicolle Zellner (Albion College, USA)
7:30 pm - 7:35 pm
Introduction by Discussion Leader
7:35 pm - 7:55 pm
Zachary Cohen (University of Washington, USA)
"Prebiotic Amino Acids Interact with Fatty Acid Membranes"
7:55 pm - 8:05 pm
Discussion
8:05 pm - 8:25 pm
Tara Djokic (University of New South Wales, Australia)
"Earliest Convincing Geologic Evidence of Life from Australia"
8:25 pm - 8:35 pm
Discussion
8:35 pm - 8:45 pm
Raghav Poudyal (Pennsylvania State Univeristy, USA)
"Essential RNA Functions: Polymerization, Small-Molecule Binding and Catalysis Under Membraneless Compartment Conditions"
8:45 pm - 8:50 pm
Discussion
8:50 pm - 9:00 pm
Moran Frenkel-Pinter (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA)
"Dynamic Polymerization of Prebiotic Depsipeptides Allows Selection of Stable Structures"
9:00 pm - 9:05 pm
Discussion
9:05 pm - 9:15 pm
David Deamer (University of California, Santa Cruz, USA)
"Perspectives on the Origins Field"
9:15 pm - 9:20 pm
Discussion
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm
Closing Remarks
Friday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
9:00 am
Departure