Project Grant 2325198

The University of Chicago will receive $899,998 from the National Science Foundation under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences federal grant program (CFDA 47.049) for a project grant award titled "Nonenzymatic RNA Replication." Professor Jack W. Szostak of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University will lead research studying prebiotic chemistry relevant to the origin of life on Earth, focusing on how primordial RNA molecules could have replicated without enzymes. The research will explore how chemical energy could drive non-enzymatic RNA replication and the behaviors of complex RNA systems that may have led to replication. Experiments will examine activation chemistry using high-energy compounds from UV light to drive nucleotide activation and RNA replication. The exploration of a new RNA replication model will examine the possibility that life emerged from a complex mixture of small RNA fragments before longer enzyme-catalyzed replication evolved. Modern sequencing will provide insight into continuous, accurate RNA copying and replication. Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows will receive specialized training in organic synthesis, kinetics, crystallography, mass spectrometry, and NMR. Findings will be communicated to engage broad audiences in the origin of life.