Organizational issues: lecture Thu./Do. 11:30-13:00 HSII, Geb. 30.41 Flachbau Chemie (ab/from 23.04.2026, 7 lecture units).

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

Zoom link: 
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81367579862?pwd=xfbLphstpLA1qKARUY0qjLfcHh8QGw.1
Meeting ID: 813 6757 9862
Access code: 3fuxcs

First lecture: 23. Apr. 2026, 7 lecture units: 30.04., 07.05., (one week break/holiday), 21.05., (two weeks break/holidays) 11.06., 18.06., 25.06. (backup term 02.07.)

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 origins 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 origins 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;