Empirical Approaches to Alternative Chemistries of Life: A Workshop

通过这个奖项，化学学部支持埃默里大学的David Lynn、华盛顿大学的E. Virginia (Ginger) Armbrust和犹他大学的Cynthia Burrows举办一个研讨会，该研讨会由NASA共同资助，题为“生命化学替代的经验方法”。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，邀请了大约30-35名来自化学、病毒学、生物学和地球化学领域的参与者，其中许多人以前从未相互接触过。我们的目标是实现异花授粉，最终提出一些大胆的问题，比如如何以及在哪里寻找新的生命分子、自我组织的新机制或新的生命化学基础。组织者提议探索从分子水平到生态系统/系统生物学水平的许多主题。讲习班的参加者将被选择代表不同的科学学科和不同的人口统计，包括国际组成部分。这次讲习班的调查结果将以报告的形式散发给社区。预期讲习班及其报告将促进新的实验类型，包括以前没有进行过的跨学科活动，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.