Sarah Keller, working with Roy Black, affiliate professor of bioengineering, has helped to unravel some of the mystery surrounding the origin of cells in Earth’s ancient oceans. The work, recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, describes the unexpected interaction of the chemical components of RNA and fatty acids and their role in stabilizing the precursors to cellular membranes.
The chemical components crucial to the start of life on Earth may have primed and protected each other in never-before-realized ways. That could mean a simpler scenario for how that first spark of life on the planet came about. Scientists have long thought that life started when the right combination of bases and sugars produced self-replicating ribonucleic acid, or RNA, inside a rudimentary ‘cell’ composed of fatty acids. Under the right conditions, fatty acids naturally form into bag-like structures similar to today’s cell membranes. In testing one of the fatty acids representative of those found before life began – decanoic acid – Keller and Black discovered that the four bases in RNA bound more readily to the decanoic acid than did the other seven bases tested. By concentrating more of the bases and sugar that are the building blocks of RNA, the system would have been primed for the next steps, reactions that led to RNA inside a bag.
Descriptions of the published research can be found on the UW News website and on Babbage, the science and technology blog of The Economist.
To learn more about Professor Keller, visit her faculty page and research group website.
Charles Campbell, Professor and B. Seymour Rabinovitch Endowed Chair in Chemistry, is the recipient of the 2013 Robert Burwell Lectureship in Catalysis of the North American Catalysis Society, sponsored by Johnson Matthey.
The Robert Burwell Lectureship in Catalysis is given in recognition of substantial contributions to one or more areas in the field of catalysis with emphasis on discovery and understanding of catalytic phenomena, catalytic reaction mechanisms and identification and description of catalytic sites and species.
Professor Campbell is being recognized for “bridging the gap between surface science and catalysis, for developing new concepts and tools in both disciplines, and for his service to both communities as Editor-in-Chief of Surface Science. His knowledge and his contributions over the last three decades have encompassed enormous depth and breadth. He has made seminal contributions in (1) developing methods to measure surface bond energies, specifically calorimetry using an apparatus developed by his research group and which currently ranks as the most sensitive heat detection tool for the study of model catalysts; (2) accurate measurements of the binding of metal atoms and nanoparticles to oxides, which has led to mechanistic approaches and fundamental treatments of catalyst sintering; (3) advancing and using microkinetic treatments of catalytic reactions, especially by providing many classic examples of how surface science can contribute to the understanding of catalytic mechanisms; and (4) formalizing the concept of ‘the degree of rate control’ to assess the extent to which individual steps in a catalytic sequence limit reactions rates.”
The award consists of a plaque and an honorarium of $5,000, and is awarded biennially. Professor Campbell will present lectures at the local catalysis clubs and societies during the two-year period covered by this award. The plaque will be presented during the closing banquet ceremonies at the 2015 North American Meeting of the Catalysis Society.
More information about the Robert Burwell Lectureship in Catalysis can be found on the award website.
To learn more about Prof. Campbell and his research, please visit his faculty page and research group page.
The American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) has awarded Assistant Professor Matt Bush a research award in the amount of $35,000. The ASMS presents two awards annually. Professor Bush’s award is sponsored by the Waters Corporation for the purpose of promoting academic research by young scientists in mass spectrometry. The awards are open to academic scientists within four years of joining the tenure track faculty or equivalent in a North American university.
More information about the ASMS Research Awards can be found on the award website.
To learn more about Prof. Bush and his research, please visit his faculty page and research group page.