Applied Math Seminar | Peter Unrau, The modularity of early RNA catalysts and theories of early evolution explored using in vitro selection

MC 5417

Speaker

Peter Unrau, Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Simon Fraser University

Title

The modularity of early RNA catalysts and theories of early evolution explored using in vitro selection

Abstract

The emergence and early evolution of life is one of the key scientific problems of our time. The RNA World hypothesis, which explains many aspect of the metabolic organization of modern life, posits that RNA played a fundamental role early in the emergence of self-replicating systems on this planet. My laboratory has been studying this question by evolving from random sequence catalytic RNAs that capture aspects of this early evolutionary period. I will discuss our latest findings concerning templated RNA replication and the modularity of RNA catalysis.