Science Society: What were the first molecules of life on Earth?

Dr Sam Roberts Postdoctoral Research Associate, MRC Laboratory and JRF at Wolfson College

Date 20/05/2022 at 17.45 - 20/05/2022 at 19.00 Where Roger Needham room (Chancellor's Centre)

What were the first molecules of life on earth? Join Dr Sam Roberts for a deep dive into why DNA and RNA have become the key molecules of life.

The question ‘Where do we come from?’ is one that humanity has been asking itself for millennia, and science is starting to unravel how the complex processes of biology emerged on Earth. Indeed one question frequently asked is ‘What is special about DNA and RNA (as well as many other key molecules of biology) that related molecules lack?’ In this talk Dr Sam Roberts will use an example from his PhD research to demonstrate how Organic Chemistry can be used to provide a rational for why DNA and RNA may have become the key molecules of life.

About the speaker

Dr Sam Roberts is a postdoctoral research associate at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology working on the chemistry of the origins of life, with a particular interest in the development of coded peptide synthesis.