How could molecules in a prebiotic setting have created robust Darwinian evolution and the first sequence information of Life? We are a cross-disciplinary network, bringing together expertise from a wide range of fields, including biochemistry, biophysics, chemistry, geosciences and theoretical physics to bring this age-old question closer to an answer. This collaborative effort is funded by German Research Foundation (DFG) and is a collaboration of several renowned German universities and institutions: LMU Munich (host), TUM (co-host), Heidelberg University, JMU Würzburg, MPI of Biochemistry, TU Dortmund, University of Augsburg, and University of Stuttgart.
The experiments range from the origin of molecules, including their long-term survival in rocks or meteorites and volcanic scenarios of molecular synthesis, to the autonomous polymerization and replication of oligonucleotides, the origin of the genetic code, the role of freeze-thaw cycles, mechanisms to amplify chirality, connections to existing metabolic networks and the non-equilibrium chemical physics to form, divide and control protocells. Our long-term aim is to reconstruct Darwinian evolution using molecular systems in geologically and astrophysically plausible conditions.
Spokesperson: Dieter Braun
Vice-Spokesperson: Ulrich Gerland
First funding period: 1. April 2024 - 31. December 2027
Visit the Homepage of CRC 392 Molecular Evolution in Prebiotic Conditions
