Origins of Life: From Chemistry to Evolution

Join us for our seminar entitled "Origin of Life: From Chemistry to Evolution" with guest speaker Philippe Nghe, professor at École Polytechnique.

Who is he ? 

Trained as a physicist, he completed his PhD at ESPCI Paris and undertook postdoctoral research in biophysics at AMOLF before developing his research on the origins of life at ESPCI Paris. His work combines microfluidics, soft matter, RNA biochemistry, and evolutionary theory to understand the emergence of molecular systems capable of reproducing and evolving.

Discover how physics, chemistry, and biology join forces to unveil the secrets of the transition from non-living matter to life.

How can assemblies of molecules acquire the ability to reproduce and evolve? This central question in origins-of-life research can now be investigated experimentally at the interface between physics, chemistry and biology. Following an introduction to the minimal requirements for Darwinian evolution, I will present our work on simplified molecular systems. In particular, we use RNA, which can both carry information and catalyse chemical reactions, together with droplets that concentrate and organise these molecules. These experiments allow us to explore how confinement, chemical reactions and environmental cycles can give rise to growth, competition and selection before the emergence of cells. Microfluidics and high-throughput measurements enable us to test these mechanisms under controlled conditions and investigate possible steps in the transition from non-living matter to living systems.

Want to learn more? Join us on January 15th at C2N !