Organisational issues: Thu./Do. 11:30-13:00 HSII, Geb. 30.41 Flachbau Chemie (ab/from 18.04.2024, 7 lecture units).

Lecture in hybrid format, participants can join on-site or online

Zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88549621884?pwd=U1dhUE5RUlgvd1JZRWpXRGUyUkFCUT09
Meeting ID: 885 4962 1884
Access code: 481010

First lecture: 18. Apr. 2024, 7 lecture units: 18.04., 25.04., 2.05., (one week break), 16.05., (two weeks break), 6.06. 13.06. and 20.06. (backup date 27.06.)

the lecture slides will be available for download shortly before the respective lecture.

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Following topics will be discussed:

Definitions of life – e.g. self-replicating chemical systems that use external energy sources to stay out of the equilibrium;

The origin of atoms and simple molecules - how the Universe, stars, planets, and molecules building them were formed?

Minimal requirements for a habitable environment – under which conditions the known forms of life can exist? Hypothetical other chemistries that could form living systems elsewhere;

The primordial soup – what pool of biologically relevant molecules likely existed on the prebiotic Earth: the Miller-Urey experiment, the formose reaction, prebiotic syntheses of aminoacids, sugars, nucleic acids, nucleotides, and lipids, prebiotic polymerization;

The origin of life – self-replicating systems, metabolism-first vs. gene-first, the “RNA world”, the origins of homochirality;

Formation of protocells – enhancing RNA with polypeptides, establishment of the genetic code, DNA as the enhanced information storage, metabolic networks, membranes;

From molecules to cells – LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor), information storage and function – split on different molecules, origins of the genetic code, metabolic networks and lipid membranes;

The history of life on Earth – timeline for LUCA, beginning of photosynthesis and aerobic metabolism, Eukaryotes, multicellular life, extremophilic organisms, habitable worlds outside Earth – current status of knowledge, space exploration programs;