{"668643":{"#nid":"668643","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Researchers Receive $11.6 Million from the Department of Energy to Establish the Transuranic Chemistry Center of Excellence","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EStockpile stewardship \u2014 safeguarding and maintaining nuclear defense materials using modern techniques \u2014 is a critical mission of the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Maintaining and expanding the necessary physical and human capabilities to complete this mission is driving renewed investments into nuclear science and engineering.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers were recently awarded $11.6 million from the NNSA to address this growing need \u2014 and to study and expand on existing models of transuranic chemistry, a branch of chemistry dedicated to studying elements with atomic numbers greater than that of uranium.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ELed by \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chemistry.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E Associate Professor \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chemistry.gatech.edu\/people\/henry-la-pierre\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EHenry \u201cPete\u201d La Pierre\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, the funding will serve to establish the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ETransuranic Chemistry Center of Excellence\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E. Directed by La Pierre, the Center will house a collaborative network of five other universities and six national laboratories across the United States conducting both theoretical and applied research.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cScientifically, actinides and transuranic elements present unique challenges to existing models of chemical bonding,\u201d explains La Pierre. These elements are man-made radioactive metals, many of which are not available in large quantities. \u201cThere are amazing open-ended questions that are fundamental to our understanding of chemical bonding and activities, that serve to transform our knowledge of how the elements form bonds across the Periodic Table.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EJoining seven other universities, this funding comes to Georgia Tech as part of NNSA\u2019s $100 million program establishing Stewardship Science Academic Alliances Centers of Excellence. A main goal of this program is to recruit, train, and educate the next generation of researchers in nuclear science and engineering.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThese cooperative agreements will allow NNSA to train the smartest and most skilled individuals while creating a direct pathway into our workforce with a diverse group of experts that can meet the evolving needs of the nuclear security enterprise,\u201d said \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EKevin Greenaugh\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, Chief Science and Technology Officer for Defense Programs, in a recent \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.energy.gov\/nnsa\/articles\/nnsa-award-100-million-stewardship-science-academic-alliances-centers-excellence\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Epress release\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThe science and engineering collaboration of this center is a true synergy,\u201d says \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/directory\/person\/martha-grover\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EMartha Grover\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, professor and associate chair for Graduate Studies in the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESchool of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E and one of the collaborators for the Center.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/erickson\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAnna Erickson\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, Woodruff Professor and associate chair for Research in the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, is another Georgia Tech collaborator. \u201cThis center provides a new example of the growing prominence of Georgia Tech in the nuclear field.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EPushing the bounds of chemistry\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cWe are at core a synthetic inorganic chemistry group, which means we make new molecules and characterize them,\u201d La Pierre explained. In his research as part of the Center, La Pierre will \u201cbe handling both radioactive and chemically reactive species to make new forms of matter.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ECharacterizing new forms of matter is no easy task, requiring advanced techniques that allow scientists to envision and measure the properties of chemical bonds. Exposing the molecules to X-rays or neutrons and measuring how they scatter or diffract (depending on the experimental design), gives researchers insights into the chemical bonds that are formed.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EUsing a combination of these advanced techniques as well as theoretical models, La Pierre and the collaborators of the Center will be creating new molecules out of actinides and lanthanides \u2014 metallic elements on the bottom of the periodic table \u2014 and studying the details of their structures and behavior during chemical reactions. As these elements are not found naturally, the structures and properties of many of these compounds have never been studied before.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cWe are creating systems that challenge existing bonding models, which we then have to go back and build new theoretical techniques in order to understand what we\u0027re seeing,\u201d La Pierre explained. \u201cSo, this does push the forefront of our understanding of basic chemical model systems.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ETo push those boundaries, scientists and engineers will be working together across the country \u2014 led by Georgia Tech.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThere are so many faculty at Georgia Tech working in nuclear science and technology,\u201d says Grover. \u201cThis center gives me the opportunity to collaborate with Prof. La Pierre and Erickson for the first time, in the area of flow chemistry and separations.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cI\u0027m looking forward to working with some incredibly talented colleagues whom I don\u0027t normally get a chance to work with,\u201d says La Pierre. \u201cAnd now we have the opportunity to work together every week with fantastic students that I would never have met otherwise. That\u0027s the main draw for me.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers were recently awarded $11.6 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to establish the Transuranic Chemistry Center of Excellence. Directed by School of Chemistry and Biochemistry Associate Professor Henry \u201cPete\u201d La Pierre, the Center will serve to push Georgia Tech to the forefront of nuclear science and engineering \u2014 and push the boundaries of our understanding of chemical bonding.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Directed by School of Chemistry and Biochemistry Associate Professor Henry \u201cPete\u201d La Pierre, the Center will serve to push Georgia Tech to the forefront of nuclear science and engineering \u2014 and push the boundaries of our understanding of chemical bonding"}],"uid":"35575","created_gmt":"2023-07-31 17:40:37","changed_gmt":"2024-02-05 14:45:32","author":"adavidson38","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-07-31T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-07-31T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"671287":{"id":"671287","type":"image","title":"From left: Henry (Pete) La Pierre, Anna Erickson, Martha Grover (photo: Jess Hunt-Ralston)","body":null,"created":"1690829374","gmt_created":"2023-07-31 18:49:34","changed":"1690829374","gmt_changed":"2023-07-31 18:49:34","alt":"From left: Henry (Pete) La Pierre, Anna Erickson, Martha Grover (photo: Jess Hunt-Ralston)","file":{"fid":"254315","name":"Transuranic Chemistry Center of Excellence - Pete La Pierre - Anna Erickson - Martha Grover webres.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/07\/31\/Transuranic%20Chemistry%20Center%20of%20Excellence%20-%20Pete%20La%20Pierre%20-%20Anna%20Erickson%20-%20Martha%20Grover%20webres.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/07\/31\/Transuranic%20Chemistry%20Center%20of%20Excellence%20-%20Pete%20La%20Pierre%20-%20Anna%20Erickson%20-%20Martha%20Grover%20webres.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1355727,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/07\/31\/Transuranic%20Chemistry%20Center%20of%20Excellence%20-%20Pete%20La%20Pierre%20-%20Anna%20Erickson%20-%20Martha%20Grover%20webres.jpg?itok=2m-82_WI"}},"671286":{"id":"671286","type":"image","title":"An overview of all of the collaborators part of the new center, which will include six universities, four national laboratories, and two user facilities \u2014 led by Georgia Tech.","body":null,"created":"1690825776","gmt_created":"2023-07-31 17:49:36","changed":"1690825776","gmt_changed":"2023-07-31 17:49:36","alt":"A map of the United States indicating the collaborators of the center.","file":{"fid":"254313","name":"Map Graphic Large_updated.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/07\/31\/Map%20Graphic%20Large_updated.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/07\/31\/Map%20Graphic%20Large_updated.png","mime":"image\/png","size":723254,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/07\/31\/Map%20Graphic%20Large_updated.png?itok=8TFBI_B9"}}},"media_ids":["671287","671286"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/hannah-choi-and-henry-s-la-pierre-named-sloan-fellows","title":"Hannah Choi and Henry S. La Pierre Named Sloan Fellows"},{"url":"https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/news\/2023\/03\/seven-decades-making-how-women-are-leading-college-future","title":"Seven Decades in the Making: How Women Are Leading the College into the Future"},{"url":"https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/news\/2022\/08\/bhatti-erickson-selected-elates-leadership-program-women-stem","title":"Bhatti, Erickson Selected for ELATES Leadership Program for Women in STEM"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1316","name":"Green Buzz"},{"id":"85951","name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"12376","name":"Nuclear Engineering"},{"id":"192917","name":"transuranic chemistry"},{"id":"178113","name":"Henry La Pierre"},{"id":"180430","name":"Anna Erickson"},{"id":"12615","name":"martha grover"},{"id":"192251","name":"cos-quantum"},{"id":"192249","name":"cos-community"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Audra Davidson\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer II, College of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEditor\u003C\/strong\u003E: Jess Hunt-Ralston\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications, College of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["davidson.audra@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"587958":{"#nid":"587958","#data":{"type":"news","title":"How Protein Misfolding May Kickstart Chemical Evolution","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAlzheimer\u0026rsquo;s disease, and other neurodegenerative conditions involving abnormal folding of proteins, may help explain the emergence of life \u0026ndash; and how to create it.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at Emory University and Georgia Tech demonstrated this connection in two new papers published by \u003Cem\u003ENature Chemistry\u003C\/em\u003E: \u0026ldquo;Design of multi-phase dynamic chemical networks\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;Catalytic diversity in self-propagating peptide assemblies.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In the first paper we showed that you can create tension between a chemical and physical system to give rise to more complex systems. And in the second paper, we showed that these complex systems can have remarkable and unexpected functions,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/chemistry.emory.edu\/home\/people\/faculty\/lynn-david.html\u0022\u003EDavid Lynn\u003C\/a\u003E, a systems chemist at Emory who led the research. \u0026ldquo;The work was inspired by our current understanding of Darwinian selection of protein misfolding in neurodegenerative diseases.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/chemistry.emory.edu\/faculty\/lynn\/\u0022\u003ELynn lab\u003C\/a\u003E is exploring ways to potentially control and direct the processes of these proteins \u0026ndash; known as prions \u0026ndash; adding to knowledge that might one day help to prevent disease, as well as open new realms of synthetic biology. For the current papers, Emory collaborated with the research group of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/faculty\/grover\u0022\u003EMartha Grover\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemical \u0026amp; Biomolecular Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, to develop molecular models for the processes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDarwin\u0026rsquo;s theory of evolution by natural selection is well-established \u0026ndash; organisms adapt over time in response to environmental changes. But theories about how life emerges \u0026ndash; the movement through a pre-Darwinian world to the Darwinian threshold \u0026ndash; remain murkier.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers started with single peptides and engineered in the capacity to spontaneously form small proteins, or short polymers. \u0026ldquo;These protein polymers can fold into a seemingly endless array of forms, and sometimes behave like origami,\u0026rdquo; Lynn explained. \u0026ldquo;They can stack into assemblies that carry new functions, like prions that move from cell-to-cell, causing disease.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis protein misfolding provided the model for how physical changes could carry information with function, a critical component for evolution. To try to kickstart that evolution, the researchers engineered a chemical system of peptides and coupled it to the physical system of protein misfolding. The combination results in a system that generates step-by-step, progressive changes, through self-driven environmental changes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The folding events, or phase changes, drive the chemistry and the chemistry drives the replication of the protein molecules,\u0026rdquo; Lynn said. \u0026ldquo;The simple system we designed requires only the initial intervention from us to achieve progressive growth in molecular order. The challenge now becomes the discovery of positive feedback mechanisms that allow the system to continue to grow.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers used mathematical modeling to help guide the experimental work.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Modeling requires us to formulate our hypotheses in the language of mathematics, and then we use the models to design further experiments to test the hypotheses,\u0026rdquo; said Grover. \u0026ldquo;In this project, the hypotheses were sometimes invalidated by these further experiments, but ultimately this led us to a better understanding of the underlying chemical and physical events and their interactions.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was funded by the McDonnell Foundation, the National Science Foundation\u0026rsquo;s Materials Science Directorate, Emory University\u0026rsquo;s Alzheimer\u0026rsquo;s Disease Research Center, the National Science Foundation\u0026rsquo;s Center for Chemical Evolution and the Office of Basic Energy Sciences of the U.S. Department of Energy.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAdditional co-authors of the papers include: Toluople Omosun, Seth Childers, Dibyendu Das and Anil Mehta (Emory Departments of Chemistry and Biology); Ming-Chien Hsieh (Georgia Tech School of Chemical \u0026amp; Biomolecular Engineering); and Neil Anthony and Keith Berland (Emory Department of Physics).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E- Written by Carol Clark, Emory University\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003Es: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu) or Ben Brumfield (404-385-1933) (ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAlzheimer\u0026rsquo;s disease, and other neurodegenerative conditions involving abnormal folding of proteins, may help explain the emergence of life \u0026ndash; and how to create it.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Abnormal folding of proteins may help explain the emergence of life."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2017-02-25 21:33:19","changed_gmt":"2017-02-27 17:19:17","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-02-27T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2017-02-27T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"587956":{"id":"587956","type":"image","title":"Research on abnormal protein folding","body":null,"created":"1488057903","gmt_created":"2017-02-25 21:25:03","changed":"1488057903","gmt_changed":"2017-02-25 21:25:03","alt":"Martha Grover and Ming-Chien Hsieh","file":{"fid":"224072","name":"protein misfolding3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/protein%20misfolding3.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/protein%20misfolding3.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1417065,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/protein%20misfolding3.jpg?itok=IdYF2u97"}},"587957":{"id":"587957","type":"image","title":"Research on abnormal protein folding2","body":null,"created":"1488058025","gmt_created":"2017-02-25 21:27:05","changed":"1488058025","gmt_changed":"2017-02-25 21:27:05","alt":"Martha Grover and Ming-Chien Hsieh","file":{"fid":"224073","name":"protein-misfolding1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/protein-misfolding1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/protein-misfolding1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1648273,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/protein-misfolding1.jpg?itok=ROF-lu46"}}},"media_ids":["587956","587957"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"3003","name":"protein"},{"id":"173584","name":"protein misfolding"},{"id":"89971","name":"chemical evolution"},{"id":"9854","name":"Origin Of Life"},{"id":"12615","name":"martha grover"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"582355":{"#nid":"582355","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Was the Secret Spice in Primal Gene Soup a Thickener?","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe original recipe for gene soup may have been simple -- rain, a jumble of common molecules, warm sunshine, and nighttime cooling. Then add a pinch of thickener.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat last ingredient may have helped gene-like strands to copy themselves in puddles for the first time ever, billions of years ago when Earth was devoid of life, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have found. Their novel discoveries add to a growing body of evidence that suggests first life may have evolved with relative ease, here and possibly elsewhere in the universe.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd they offer a straightforward answer to a gnawing 50-year-old question: How did precursors to the present-day genetic code first duplicate themselves before the existence of enzymes that are indispensable to that process today?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe spice of life?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor generations, scientists pursuing an answer performed experiments in water but hit a wall.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.prism.gatech.edu\/~che39\/Christine_He.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EChristine He\u003C\/a\u003E and Isaac G\u0026aacute;llego overcame it by adding an off-the-shelf viscous solvent (the thickener). In separate experiments with DNA then RNA, the copying process proceeded.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I think it\u0026rsquo;s very, very different from anything that\u0026rsquo;s been done before,\u0026rdquo; said researcher He.\u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;We can change the physical environment in an easy way, and promote these processes that wouldn\u0026rsquo;t happen in conditions ordinarily being used.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEasy recipe\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEasy is crucial, said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/grover.chbe.gatech.edu\/research.htm\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EMartha Grover\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor who oversaw the research at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. Easy reactions are likely to be more productive and more prevalent.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;A simple and robust process like this one could have operated in a variety of environments and concentrations making it more realistic in moving evolution forward,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGrover\u0026rsquo;s lab and that of Nick Hud at \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ww2.chemistry.gatech.edu\/hud\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Chemistry and Biochemistry\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nature.com\/nchem\/journal\/vaop\/ncurrent\/full\/nchem.2628.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Epublished the results on Monday, October 10, 2016 in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Chemistry\u003C\/em\u003E. \u003C\/a\u003ETheir research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the NASA Astrobiology Program under the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/centerforchemicalevolution.com\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ENASA\/NSF Center for Chemical Evolution.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENucleotide noodles\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEarliest life was based on RNA, or a similar polymer, according to a hypothesis called the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=K1xnYFCZ9Yg\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ERNA World\u003C\/a\u003E. In that scenario, on the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=mRzxTzKIsp8\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eevolutionary timeline\u003C\/a\u003E, the self-replication of RNA strands long enough to be potential genes would roughly mark the doorstep to life.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThose long nucleotide chains may have been mixed together in puddles with shorter nucleotide chains. Heat from the sun would have made long strands detach from their helix structures, giving short ones a chance to match up with them, and become their copies.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut there\u0026rsquo;s a problem.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn water alone, when cooling sets in, the long chains snap back into their helix structure so rapidly that there\u0026rsquo;s no time for the matching process with the shorter chains. That snapping shut, which happens in both RNA and DNA, is called \u0026ldquo;strand inhibition,\u0026rdquo; and in living cells, enzymes solve the problem of keeping the long chains apart while gene strands duplicate.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMore like a stew\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The problem is a problem in water, which everybody sort of looks at in prebiotic (pre-life) chemistry,\u0026rdquo; said graduate research assistant He. She felt it was time to rethink that, and her expertise in chemical engineering helped.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHigh viscosity has been known to slow down the movement of long strands of DNA, RNA and other polymers.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s a little like making them swim in honey,\u0026rdquo; Grover said. Applying that to origin-of-life chemistry seemed obvious, because in prebiotic times, there probably were quite a few sticky puddles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In that solution, it gives the short nucleotides, which move faster, time to jump onto the long strand and piece together a duplicate of the long strand,\u0026rdquo; researcher He said. In her experiments, it worked.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHairpins in the soup\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd it produced an encouraging surprise. The DNA and RNA strands folded onto themselves forming shapes called hairpins.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In the beginning, we didn\u0026rsquo;t realize the importance of the internal structure,\u0026rdquo; Christine He said. Then they noticed that the shape was helping keep RNA and DNA available for the pairing process. \u0026ldquo;Hairpin formation is integral to keeping them open,\u0026rdquo; Grover said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut it also could have accelerated chemical evolution in another way. \u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;The solution is selecting here for sequences that fold, and that would have more potential for functional activity \u0026ndash; like a ribozyme,\u0026rdquo; said researcher He.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERibozymes are enzymes made of RNA, and enzymes catalyze biochemical processes. To have them evolve in the same solution that promotes genetic code replication could have shortened the path to first life.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;You really need to amplify functional sequences for evolution to move forward,\u0026rdquo; Grover said. The folds were an unexpected side-effect, and finding them paves the way for future research.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENext ingredient?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech scientists used real gene strands in their experiments, which may sound mundane, but in the past, some researchers have specially engineered DNA and RNA sequences in attempts to arrive at similar results.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe and G\u0026aacute;llego\u0026rsquo;s use of a naturally occurring gene, rather than a specifically engineered sequence, shows that viscosity could have been a very general solution to promote copying of nucleic acids with mixed length and sequences.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo facilitate quick, clear outcomes, the Georgia Tech researchers used purified short nucleotide chains and applied them in ratios that favored productive reactions. But they had started out with messier, less pure ingredients, and the experience was worthwhile.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Considering a pre-biotic soup, it\u0026rsquo;s probably messy; it\u0026rsquo;s got a lot of impurities,\u0026rdquo; Christine He said. \u0026ldquo;When we first started out with more impure nucleotides, it still worked. Maybe the same reaction really could have happened in a messy puddle billions of years ago.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe viscous solvent was \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/news\/407121\/who-needs-water-assemble-dna-non-aqueous-solvent-supports-dna-nanotechnology\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eglycholine, a mixture of glycerol and choline chloride\u003C\/a\u003E. It was not likely present on pre-biotic Earth, but other viscous solvents likely were.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlso, after the short strands matched up to each long one, the researchers did apply an enzyme to join the aligned short pieces into a long chain, in a biochemical process called ligation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe enzymes would not have been present on a prebiotic Earth, and although \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/cbic.201200167\/full\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ethere are chemical procedure for ligating RNA\u003C\/a\u003E, \u0026ldquo;no one has developed a chemistry so robust yet that it could replace the enzyme,\u0026rdquo; Grover said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFinding one that could have worked on a prebiotic Earth would be a worthy aim for further research.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/news\/407121\/who-needs-water-assemble-dna-non-aqueous-solvent-supports-dna-nanotechnology\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EREAD: More about chemical engineering, viscosity and DNA\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/news\/525171\/missing-links-brewed-primordial-puddles\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EREAD: Possible precusor of RNA forms spontaneously in water\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EBrandon Laughlin from Georgia Tech coauthored the paper. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the NASA Astrobiology Program under the NASA\/NSF Center for Chemical Evolution (grant number CHE-1504217) and by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (grant number DGE-1148903). Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"More evidence that life could have evolved with relative ease: New research supports ancestors of genes self-copying in a mushy puddle"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAt the threshold to first life on Earth, the ancestors of gene strands replicated spontaneously, but for 50 years, lab experiments in water have not been able to imitate it. A little thickener kicks the process forward, Georgia Tech chemical engineering researchers have found.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Searching for the origins of life, researchers add thickener to the broth"}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2016-10-10 18:38:51","changed_gmt":"2016-10-12 20:29:27","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-10-10T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-10-10T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"582331":{"id":"582331","type":"image","title":"Gene replication viscosity","body":null,"created":"1476118333","gmt_created":"2016-10-10 16:52:13","changed":"1476136205","gmt_changed":"2016-10-10 21:50:05","alt":"","file":{"fid":"221990","name":"genepoolprimeval.sized_.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/genepoolprimeval.sized_.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/genepoolprimeval.sized_.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":599120,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/genepoolprimeval.sized_.jpeg?itok=5_RvxBCH"}},"582330":{"id":"582330","type":"image","title":"Martha Grover Christine He spontaneous gene copying","body":null,"created":"1476117777","gmt_created":"2016-10-10 16:42:57","changed":"1476117828","gmt_changed":"2016-10-10 16:43:48","alt":"","file":{"fid":"221987","name":"Grover.He_.gel_.sized_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Grover.He_.gel_.sized_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Grover.He_.gel_.sized_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":299128,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Grover.He_.gel_.sized_.jpg?itok=-gf5naqg"}},"582345":{"id":"582345","type":"image","title":"Christine He Ph.D. research former Georgia Tech","body":null,"created":"1476121791","gmt_created":"2016-10-10 17:49:51","changed":"1476121791","gmt_changed":"2016-10-10 17:49:51","alt":"","file":{"fid":"221993","name":"He.gel_.sized_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/He.gel_.sized_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/He.gel_.sized_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":477614,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/He.gel_.sized_.jpg?itok=MNWYR-Fz"}},"582348":{"id":"582348","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech Professor Martha Grover chemical engineering","body":null,"created":"1476122410","gmt_created":"2016-10-10 18:00:10","changed":"1476122410","gmt_changed":"2016-10-10 18:00:10","alt":"","file":{"fid":"221994","name":"Grover.portrait.sized_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Grover.portrait.sized_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Grover.portrait.sized_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":735513,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Grover.portrait.sized_.jpg?itok=HI_BdOfm"}}},"media_ids":["582331","582331","582330","582345","582348"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1237","name":"College of Engineering"},{"id":"1240","name":"School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"},{"id":"65448","name":"Bioengineering Graduate Program"},{"id":"85951","name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"3028","name":"evolution"},{"id":"984","name":"RNA"},{"id":"1041","name":"dna"},{"id":"172391","name":"gene self-replication"},{"id":"560","name":"chemical engineering"},{"id":"10339","name":"center for chemical evolution"},{"id":"7424","name":"viscosity"},{"id":"12615","name":"martha grover"},{"id":"172383","name":"Christine He"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWriter and media contact: Ben Brumfield\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 660-1408\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"428211":{"#nid":"428211","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Study: Finding the Origins of Life in a Drying Puddle","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAnyone who\u2019s ever noticed a water puddle drying in the sun has seen an environment that may have driven the type of chemical reactions that scientists believe were critical to the formation of life on the early Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch reported July 15 in the journal\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EAngewandte Chemie International Edition\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;demonstrates that important molecules of contemporary life, known as polypeptides, can be formed simply by mixing amino and hydroxy acids \u2013 which are believed to have existed together on the early Earth \u2013 then subjecting them to cycles of wet and dry conditions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis simple process, which could have taken place in a puddle drying out in the sun and then reforming with the next rain, works because chemical bonds formed by one compound make bonds easier to form with the other.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study, titled \u201cEster-Mediated Amide Bond Formation Driven by Wet-Dry Cycles: A Possible Path to Polypeptides on the Prebiotic Earth,\u201d\u0026nbsp;supports the theory that life could have begun on dry land, perhaps even in the desert, where cycles of nighttime cooling and dew formation are followed by daytime heating and evaporation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJust 20 of these day-night, wet-dry cycles were needed to form a complex mixture of polypeptides in the lab. The process also allowed the breakdown and reassembly of the organic materials to form random sequences that could have led to the formation of the polypeptide chains that were needed for life.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe simplicity of using hydration-dehydration cycles to drive the kind of chemistry you need for life is really appealing,\u201d said lead author\u0026nbsp;Nicholas Hud, a professor in the\u0026nbsp;School of Chemistry and Biochemistry\u0026nbsp;at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and director of the\u0026nbsp;NSF\/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, which is supported by the NSF Centers for Chemical Innovation Program and the NASA Astrobiology Program. \u201cIt looks like dry land would have provided a very favorable environment for getting the chemistry necessary for life started.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESheng-Sheng Yu, a graduate student in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE), was co-first author of the study. Other co-authors include Yu\u0027s advisor, ChBE Professor Martha Grover; Georgia Tech Postdoctoral Fellow Jay Forsythe;\u0026nbsp;Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy, an associate professor of chemistry at the Scripps Research Instituteas;\u0026nbsp;Irena Mamajanov, a Simons Foundation Fellow at the Carnegie Institution for Science;\u0026nbsp;and Professor Facundo M. Fern\u00e1ndez of Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Chemistry and Biochemistry.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOrigin-of-life scientists had previously made polypeptides from amino acids by heating them well past the boiling point of water, or by driving polymerization with activating chemicals. But the high temperatures are beyond the point at which most life could survive, and the robust availability of activating chemicals on the early Earth is questionable. The simplicity of the wet-dry cycle therefore makes it attractive to explain how peptides could have formed, Hud added.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe idea for combining chemically similar amino acids and hydroxyl acids was inspired by the demonstration that polyesters are easy to form by repetitive hydration-dehydration cycles and the fact that esters are activated to attack by the amino group of amino acids. The potential importance of this reaction in the earliest stages of life is supported by studies of meteorites, which revealed that both compounds would have been present on the prebiotic Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHydroxy acids combine to form polyester, better known as a synthetic textile fiber, and that reaction requires less energy than formation of the amide bonds needed to create peptides from amino acids. In the wet-dry cycles, formation of polyester comes first \u2013 which then facilitates the more difficult peptide formation, Hud said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe ester linkages that we are making in the polyester can serve as an activating agent formed within the solution,\u201d he explained. \u201cOver the course of a very simple chemical evolution, the polymers progress from having hydroxy acids with ester linkages to amino acids with peptide linkages. The hydroxy acids are gradually replaced through the wet and dry cycles because the ester bonds holding them together are not as stable as the peptide bonds.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EExperimentally, graduate student Sheng-Sheng Yu put the amino and hydroxy acid mixtures through 20 wet-dry cycles to produce molecules that are a mixture of polyesters and peptides, containing as many as 14 units. After just three cycles, and at temperatures as low as 65 degrees Celsius, peptides consisting of two and three units began to form. Postdoctoral fellow Jay Forsythe confirmed the chemical structures using NMR mass spectrometry.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe allowed the peptide bonds to form because the ester bonds lowered the energy barrier that needed to be crossed,\u201d Hud added.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn the early Earth, those cycles could have taken 20 days and nights \u2013 or perhaps much longer if the heating and drying cycles corresponded to seasons of the year.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond easily forming the polypeptides, the wet-dry process has an additional advantage. It allows compounds like peptides to be regularly broken apart and reformed, creating new structures with randomly-ordered amino acids. This ability to recycle the amino acids not only conserves organic material that may have been in short supply on the early Earth, but also provides the potential for creating more useful combinations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA combination of hydroxy and amino acids likely existed in the prebiotic soup of the early Earth, but analyzing such a \u201cmessy\u201d reaction was challenging, Hud said. \u201cWe were led into this idea that a mixture might work better than separate components,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt might have been messy at the start, but it\u2019s easier to get going than a pristine chemical reaction.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond helping explain how life might have started, the wet-dry cycles could also provide a new way to synthesize polypeptides. Existing techniques produce the chemicals through genetic engineering of microorganisms, or through synthetic organic chemistry. The wet-dry cycling could provide a simpler and more sustainable water-based process for producing these chemicals.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe demonstration of peptide formation opens the door to asking other questions about how life may have gotten going in prebiotic times, said research team member Krishnamurthy. Future studies will include a look at the sequences formed, whether there are sequences favored by the process, and what sequences might result. The process could ultimately lead to reactions able to continue without the wet-dry cycles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf this process were repeated many times, you could grow up a peptide that could acquire a catalytic property because it had reached a certain size and could fold in a certain way,\u201d Krishnamurthy said. \u201cThe system could begin to develop certain emergent characteristics and properties that might allow it to self-propagate.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already named, the paper\u2019s authors include Irena Mamajanov, Martha A Grover, and Facundo M. Fern\u00e1ndez, all from Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was\u0026nbsp;supported by\u0026nbsp;the NSF Centers for Chemical Innovation Program and the NASA Astrobiology Program under the NSF\/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution\u0026nbsp;under grant number CHE-1004570. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF or NASA.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E- Article written by John Toon of Georgia Tech Research Horizons\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Study: Finding the Origins of Life in a Drying Puddle"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAnyone who\u2019s ever noticed a water puddle drying in the sun has seen an environment that may have driven the type of chemical reactions that scientists believe were critical to the formation of life on the early Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Study: Finding the Origins of Life in a Drying Puddle"}],"uid":"27271","created_gmt":"2015-07-23 17:35:02","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:15","author":"Brad Dixon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-07-23T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-07-23T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"428221":{"id":"428221","type":"image","title":"Sheng-Sheng Yu","body":null,"created":"1449254342","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:39:02","changed":"1475895167","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:47","alt":"Sheng-Sheng Yu","file":{"fid":"202812","name":"shengshengyu.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/shengshengyu_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/shengshengyu_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":881544,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/shengshengyu_0.jpg?itok=btl-2A-z"}}},"media_ids":["428221"],"groups":[{"id":"1240","name":"School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"12615","name":"martha grover"},{"id":"136671","name":"Nicolas Hud"},{"id":"136661","name":"origins of life"},{"id":"167445","name":"School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering"},{"id":"171467","name":"Sheng-Sheng Yu"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-6986)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"68541":{"#nid":"68541","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Professor Martha Grover to Receive Young Researcher Award","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDr. Martha Grover, associate professor in the School\nof Chemical \u0026amp; Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech, has been named\nrecipient of the 2011 Computing and Systems Technology (CAST) Outstanding Young\nResearcher Award, presented by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers\n(AIChE).\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe award, which is bestowed upon only one\nrecipient each year, recognizes an individual under the age of 40 for\noutstanding contributions to chemical engineering computing and systems\ntechnology literature. In a congratulatory letter, Dr. Mayuresh V. Kothare,\nchair of the AIChE CAST Division Awards committee, lauded Dr. Grover for developing\nmethods for engineering materials structures that are both systematic and\npractical.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EA member of the Center for Chemical Evolution\nand the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics (COPE) at Georgia Tech, Dr.\nGrover conducts research that focuses on understanding macromolecular\norganization and the emergence of biological function through the kinetics of\nself-assembly, stochastic modeling, model reduction, machine learning,\nexperimental design, robust parameter design, and estimation.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EA 2004 recipient of a National Science\nFoundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program Award, Dr.\nGrover joined the ChBE faculty in 2003 after receiving her doctorate degree\nfrom the California Institute of Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EDr. Grover will formally receive the\nOutstanding Young Researcher Award at the CAST Division dinner, which will be\nheld at the AIChE Annual Meeting this fall in Minneapolis. Sponsored by Air\nProducts and Chemicals, Inc., the award includes a plaque and $3,000.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMartha Grover, associate professor in the School of Chemical \u0026amp; Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech, has been named recipient of the 2011 Computing and Systems Technology (CAST) Outstanding Young Researcher Award, presented by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Professor Martha Grover to Receive Young Researcher Award"}],"uid":"27255","created_gmt":"2011-06-24 18:58:44","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:09:37","author":"Josie Giles","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-06-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-06-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"68539":{"id":"68539","type":"image","title":"Dr. Martha Grover","body":null,"created":"1449177185","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:13:05","changed":"1475894594","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:14","alt":"Dr. Martha Grover","file":{"fid":"192599","name":"grover2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/grover2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/grover2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2850381,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/grover2_0.jpg?itok=jvPHIMqR"}}},"media_ids":["68539"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.aiche.org\/DivisionsForums\/ViewAll\/CAST.aspx","title":"Computing \u0026 Systems Technology Division (CAST) of the AIChE"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/faculty\/grover.php","title":"Dr. Martha Grover"}],"groups":[{"id":"1240","name":"School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"276","name":"Awards"},{"id":"560","name":"chemical engineering"},{"id":"1506","name":"faculty"},{"id":"12615","name":"martha grover"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJosie G. Giles\u003Cbr \/\u003EWebsite \u0026amp; Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003ESchool of Chemical \u0026amp; Biomolecular Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003E404.385.2299 \u2022 \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:josie@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejosie@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["josie@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}