CBCI: The Origins Project

格鲁吉亚理工学院的Nicholas Hud、Spelman学院的Jean-Marie Dimandja、杰克逊州立大学的Jerzy Leszczynski、埃默里大学的大卫林恩和格鲁吉亚理工学院的托马斯Orlando获得化学键合中心（CBC）的一项第一阶段计划的资助，该计划旨在开展生命的化学起源研究。该项目基于生命从自发组装成RNA样聚合物的益生元前体进化而来的理论。 正在解决的问题包括：什么分子可能存在于益生元化学品清单？什么样的分子可以自组装形成RNA样的聚合物？什么样的分子可以作为其他分子形成或组装的生物前催化剂？CBC有三个主要目标：（i）确定RNA样聚合物的潜在构建块并了解形成它们的反应;（ii）揭示可能的早期代谢和自组装机制，这些机制可以选择性地产生并将这些构建块偶联成更复杂的分子，最终导致RNA样聚合物;和（iii）开发一种分布式的，网络化的方法，以提高我们对模型益生元化学反应的认识，这将涉及本科生和他们当地的导师。这项工作正在以多种方式产生广泛影响：通过妇女和代表性不足的少数群体的参与，特别是通过斯佩尔曼和杰克逊州立大学的HBCU伙伴机构;通过制定一项高中外联方案，使高中化学教师能够进行益生元实验;进一步发展现有的“生命起源的化学”课程，并为新生举办“秩序的起源”系列研究研讨会;并计划通过广播、地方公共电视、计算机图形和基于网络的教育模块传播有关该中心的信息。

Nicholas Hud of Georgia Institute of Technology, Jean-Marie Dimandja of Spelman College, Jerzy Leszczynski of Jackson State Univeristy, David Lynn of Emory University and Thomas Orlando of Georgia Tech are supported by an award from the Chemical Bonding Centers (CBC) for a Phase I program to carry out research on the chemical origin of life. The project is based on the theory that life evolved from prebiotic precursors that spontaneously assembled into RNA-like polymers. Questions that are being addressed include: What molecules were potentially present in the prebiotic chemical inventory? What molecules can self-assemble to form RNA-like polymers? And what molecules could have acted as prebiotic catalysts for the formation or assembly of other molecules? There are three principal objectives of the CBC: (i) to determine the potential building blocks of RNA-like polymers and to understand the reactions which form them; (ii) to uncover possible early metabolisms and mechanisms of self-assembly that could have selectively produced and coupled these building blocks into more complex molecules, eventually leading to RNA-like polymers; and (iii) to develop a distributed, cyber-enabled approach to advancing our knowledge of model prebiotic chemical reactions that will involve undergraduate students and their local mentors. The work is having a broad impact in a number of ways: through the participation of women and under-represented minorities, particularly through the HBCU partner institutions of Spelman and Jackson State University; through the development of a high school outreach program that is making prebiotic experiments accessible to high school chemistry teachers; by further developing an existing course on "Chemistry of the Origin of Life" and through a research seminar series for freshmen on the "Origins of Order"; and through plans to disseminate information about the center through radio, local public television, computer graphics, and web-based educational modules.