Research Overview
The evolutionary processes that allow life to emerge and proliferate play out in dynamic systems that integrate small molecule reaction networks, functional and information polymers, and selectively permeable compartments. Investigations of the individual components of these systems are ultimately limited in the insight they can provide into the overall process. To gain a comprehensive understanding of this process we are taking a holistic approach to investigate the origin and early evolution of life. Within CEL, we integrate experimental and computational approaches in the areas of cosmochemistry, systems chemistry, molecular modeling, in vitro evolution, and synthetic biology to explore this issue through systematic, scientific inquiry.
We are a diverse team of scientists engaged in several interdisciplinary projects that represent a comprehensive approach to a broad range of protobiological processes. Our work provides important insight into several questions related to the origin and early evolution of life such as: How can abiotic reaction networks transition to biological metabolism? When is evolutionary optimization possible and when are the products of evolution governed by chance? What mechanisms drive evolutionary innovation on both structural and functional levels? What molecular mechanisms of coevolution of proteins, nucleic acids and cellular membranes facilitate protocellular functions, stability, growth, and division? Which functions facilitate adaptation of nascent life to different environmental conditions? Under what conditions is open-ended evolution possible and what constraints does it impose on the different processes involved?
