Empirical Approaches to Alternative Chemistries of Life: A Workshop

通过这一奖项，化学系支持埃默里大学的大卫·林恩、华盛顿大学的E·弗吉尼亚(姜尔)·阿姆布鲁斯特和犹他大学的辛西娅·布伦斯举办一个由美国国家航空航天局共同资助的题为“替代生命化学的经验方法”的讲习班。研讨会将于2012年4月1日至4日在弗吉尼亚州亚历山大市举行，约有30至35人应邀参加，他们来自化学、病毒学、生物学和地球化学领域，其中许多人以前从未进行过互动。我们的目标是在接近尾声时实现异花授粉，即提出大胆的问题，关于如何以及在哪里寻找新的生命分子、新的自组织机制或新的生命化学基础。组织者建议探索从分子水平到生态系统/系统生物学水平的一系列主题。讲习班的参与者将被选为既代表不同的科学学科，又代表不同的人口统计数据，包括国际组成部分。这次研讨会的结果将以报告的形式向社会传播。预计讲习班及其报告将鼓励新类型的实验，包括以前从未进行过的跨学科冒险，以寻找与生命系统的出现和维持有关的新化学。

With this award, the Chemistry Division is supporting David Lynn of Emory University, E. Virginia (Ginger) Armbrust of the University of Washington and Cynthia Burrows of the University of Utah to conduct a workshop, co-funded by NASA, and entitled, "Empirical Approaches to Alternative Chemistries of Life". The workshop in to take place in Alexandria, VA over the period of April 1-4, 2012, with roughly 30-35 invited participants from the fields of chemistry, virology, biology and geochemistry, many of whom will never have interacted with one another before. The goal is to achieve cross-pollination toward the end of asking bold questions about how and where one would look in search of new molecules of life, new mechanisms for self-organization or new chemical bases of life. The organizers propose to explore a number of themes that range from the molecular level to the ecosystem/systems biology level. The workshop participants will be chosen to represent both a diverse range of scientific disciplines, and diverse demographics, including an international component. The findings of this workshop will be disseminated in the form of a report for the community. It is expected that the workshop and its report will stimulate new types of experiments, including interdisciplinary ventures not previously undertaken, in search of new chemistries relevant to the emergence and sustenance of living systems.