A three-day workshop using NAI remote communications tools will be held on November 8, 9 & 10, 2010. Participants will discuss 'top down' origin of life research, which will ultimately allow us to rewind the evolutionary record of biochemical processes and assemblies.

Organized by John Peters and Loren Williams, PIs of the NAI's Montana State University and Georgia Tech teams, a primary goal of the workshop is to foster new interdisciplinary collaborations across the community.

Session topics will include:

Phylogenetic Studies on Key Enzymes Involved in Information Pathways and Metabolism

The Evolutionary History of Protein Synthesis

Minerals to Enzymes - Bridging the Gap Between Metal Based Abiotic and Biological Chemistry

Phylogenetic Reconstruction/Resurrection - A Glimpse into Extinct Biochemistry

What can Modern Biological Energy Transformation Systems Tell Us About Conditions on the Early Earth?

Linking the Evolutionary Record to the Geological Record

The workshop is open to the worldwide science community and will be accessible via internet browser. Details, including abstract submission and registration forms, are on the NAI website athttp://astrobiology.nasa.gov/nai/ool-www '> http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/nai/ool-www . The abstract submission deadline is October 1, 2010.