Random Interactions

The Origin of Life: from geophysics to biology

by Prof. A. Libchaber (Rockefeller Univ.)

Saturday, December 19, 2009 from to (Asia/Kolkata)
at Colaba Campus ( A-304 )
Description
One of the deepest and most controversial questions is that of the
Origin of Life.  In this lecture, a hypothesis is presented according
to which the temperature gradients existing in the earth - which led to plate tectonics and the formation of undersea thermal vents - also led to the evolution of life around these vents.  Movies will be shown of experiments, in which all stages of this scenario are presented: how thermal gradients led to plate tectonics, to DNA amplification, to polymerization of peptides at high pressure and to the organization of bacteria.  This mixture of physics, chemistry and biology illustrates how life could originate without the intervention of the sun, driven only by geophysical thermal gradients.
Organised by Prof. Deepak Dhar