Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

The Study of Life S Origins on Earth Is Age-old From Ancient Philosophers to Contemporary Scientists. in the Modern Era Top-down Origins Research Has Scoured the Biological Record to Infer the Character of Earth S Earliest Life. the Current Central Dogma of Molecular Biology in Which Dna Rna and Proteins Are the Foundation for Heritable Characteristics and Catalytic Function Is the Launching Point to Find Primitive Molecules and Processes That Gave Rise to Life. However Knowledge of the Threads Between Modern Cellular Functions and the First Emergence of Protocellular Processes Remains Tenuous. This Early Disciplinary Split Between Biochemists and Earth Scientists Spawned the Divergent Theories for Life S Origins That Still Divide the Community Today. This Has Produced Broadly the Genetics First and Metabolism First Schools of Thought. Thus Far Neither Scenario-driven Approach Has Yielded a Robust Prebiotic Pathway Under Realistic Early Earth Conditions Resulting in a Polarized Research Community With Several Competing Scenarios and Hampered by a Lack of Observational and Communication Tools to Produce Cross-disciplinary Translation. Refreshingly the Last Decade With Impetus From the Nai Has Witnessed a Realization of the Need for Studies of Prebiotic Chemistry and Early Earth Environments to Not Only Collide But to Synergize. Nonetheless What Remains Elusive Even With Newfound Appreciation for the Importance of Local Environmental Conditions Is a Synergistic Picture of a Sequence of Prebiotic Processes Co-evolving With the Planetary System. the Inevitable Co-evolution of Early Earth and Prebiotic Chemistry Is the Guiding Principle of Our Research Enterprise Addressing a Single Compelling Question: Which Early Earth Environments Hosted the Prebiotic Chemistry That Led to Life? We Will Focus Not Upon Early Life Itself But Upon the Chemical Pathways That Made Life Possible and Upon the Environments in Which Those Reactions Might Have Occurred. Observational Experimental and Theoretical Constraints on Early Earth Environments Will Be Obtained by Integrating Geochemical Geophysical and Planetary Dynamics Approaches. Novel Experimental and Analytical Capabilities Together With Computational Models Will Test Hypotheses of Plausible Prebiotic Chemistries. the Key to This Interdisciplinary Interaction Is the Gateway to Early Earth (GEE) a Framework for Co-evolving Our Research Program That Comprises Both Novel Experimental Facilities and Formalized Virtual Components That Explore and Recreate Early Earth Conditions. the Virtual Part of the Gee Is Collectively the Virtual Early Earth Laboratory (veel). Veel Provides for Clearing House Exploratorium and Analytic Investigations of Early Earth Environments and the Associated Co-varying Conditions. the Companion Early Earth Lab (EEL) Is an Ultimate Translator Between Early Earth Environments and Prebiotic Chemistry That Faithfully and Objectively Renders Early Earth Environments in Laboratory Settings. the Goals and Mission of Nai Reflect the Mission and History of the New York Center for Astrobiology (NYCA) Based at Rpi and a Hub for Astrobiology Research for More Than Three Decades. Our Current Team at Rpi and 9 Other Institutions Is Well-qualified and Well Positioned to Build on This History and Over the Next 5 Years. Interdisciplinary Integration of Our Research Network Is Fundamental to Progress in Astrobiology. One of the Distinguishing Aspects of Our Proposed Work Is the Close Association of Experts on Global and Local Early Earth Environments With Researchers Engaged in Experimental Investigations of Abiotic and Prebiotic Chemistry. Our Collaborative Team Is Organized Around Four Main Themes That Are Directly Related to Our Research Program: (1) Early Earth Environments (2) Prebiotic Chemistry (3) Early Earth Laboratory and Analytical Approaches and (4) the Virtual Early Earth Laboratory the Bridge Among These Is the Gateway to Early Earth.