Start of main content
The origins of life and its search in the Universe
Life and Matter Sciences International Symposium November 16-17, 2016 Madrid
General information
Venue: Fundación Ramón Areces, Vitruvio, 5. 28006. Madrid
Organized by:
Fundación Ramón Areces
In cooperation with:
Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales
Coordinator/s:
Esteban Domingo SolansCentro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa. CSIC-UAM
Leopoldo García SanchoUniversidad Complutense
Carlos Briones LlorenteCentro de Astrobiología. CSIC-INTA
- Description
- Programme
Description
The origin of life, its evolution and its possible existence beyond Earth in our Universe are questions that have fascinated mankind since endowed with a scientific view of its own existence. Being core questions of astrobiology, they have been approached also by scientists working in disparate disciplines such as physics, chemistry or biology, as well as by philosophers. This symposium, organized jointly by the Royal Academy of Sciences of Spain and Fundación Ramón Areces, will be an interdisciplinary course of lectures, followed by open discussion. The topics will include the processes that may have led to the origin of life, its evolution and adaptation to extreme environments, and current progress on the search for life in the Universe.
Programme
Wednesday, 16
9:30
Opening Session
Raimundo Pérez-Hernández y Torra 
 Director of the Fundación Ramón Areces. Spain.
Federico Mayor Zaragoza
 Chairman of the Scientific Council. Fundación Ramón Areces.
José María Medina
 Deputy Chairman fo the Scientific Council. Fundación Ramón Areces. 
Jesús Ávila de Grado 
 Vice President of the Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Spain.
José Elguero Bertolini
 President of the Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Spain. 
SESSION 1: The origins of life
10:00
Origins of life systems chemistry
John D. Sutherland
 MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. Cambridge. Reino Unido.
10:45
Competition and cooperation of simple replicons
Peter Schuster
 Universität Wien. Institut für Theoretische Chemie. Viena. Austria.
11:30
Break
12:00
The origins and early evolution of metabolic pathways
Juli Peretó
 Instituto Cavanilles de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva (ICBiBE). Universidad de Valencia.
12:45
The origins of cellular life on Earth
Jack W. Szostak
 Massachusetts General Hospital. Boston. EE. UU.
13:30
General discussion
14:00
Break
SESSION 2: Diversification of life and extremophiles
16:00
Microorganisms in hot springs from Costa Rica to Antarctica
Carlos Pedrós-Alió
 Centro Nacional de Biotecnología. CSIC. Madrid.
16:45
Some like it salty: life in hypersaline environments
Josefa Antón Botella
 Universidad de Alicante. Spain
17:30
Break
18:00
Getting under Atacama's rocky skin: life's last refuge
Jacek Wierzchos
 Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales. CSIC. Madrid
18:45
Life in extremely acidic environments: Rio Tinto as a Mars terrestrial analog
Ricardo Amils
 Centro de Astrobiología. CSIC-INTA. Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid.
19:30
General discussion
Thursday, 17
SESSION 3: The search for life beyond Earth
9:30
The realms of space, a testbed for astrobiology
Gerda Horneck
 Institute of Aerospace Medicine. German Aerospace Center DLR. Colonia. Alemania.
10:15
Characterization and synthesis of organic matter in comets and meteorites
Guillermo Muñoz-Caro
 Centro de Astrobiología. CSIC-INTA. Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid.
11:00
Break
11:30
The detection and characterization of Earth-like extrasolar planets
María Rosa Zapatero
 Centro de Astrobiología. CSIC-INTA. Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid. Spain
12:15
The search for life in ocean worlds of the outer Solar System
Kevin P. Hand
 Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA. Pasadena, California. EE. UU.
13:00
General discussion and closing remarks
- 
					 Activities related Activities related
- 
				 Projects related Projects related
- 
				 News related News related
- 
				 Publications related Publications related
					 Activities related
				Activities related
			
- 
							
								21
								Dec
								2022
							
							Mesa redonda online ¿Es posible la regeneración de tejidos? ONLINE www.fundacionareces.tv/directo, Wednesday, 21 December 2022; 18:00 hours 
- 
							
								16
								Feb
								2023
							
							Ciclo de conferencias y debates en ciencias Cellular therapies: New oportunities offered by genetic engineering and immunotherapy Madrid, Thursday, 16 February 2023, 17:30 hours 
- 
							
								7
								Mar
								2023
							
							International Symposium Membrane-Less Organelles in Cell Life and Disease Sevilla, Tuesday and Wednesday, 7 and 8 March 2023, 10:15 hours 
				 Projects related
				Projects related
			
- The development of economically viable protein based biomimetic templates for use in bone tissue regeneration 2014 Senior Researcher : Juan Manuel Ruso Beiras Research Centre or Institution : Facultad de Física. Universidad de Santiago de Compostela
- Regeneration as a model to identify molecular mechanisms involved in cellular reprogramming 2016 Senior Researcher : Antonio Baonza Cuenca Research Centre or Institution : Centro de Biología Molecular "Severo Ochoa". CSIC-Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
- Heterogeneous biomimetic catalysts based on functionalized organic-inorganic hybrid networks to produce hydrogen 2016 Senior Researcher : Mª Dolores Esquivel Merino Research Centre or Institution : Instituto de Química Fina y Nanoquímica. Universidad de Córdoba.
				 News related
				News related
			
				 Publications related
				Publications related
			
 
								
							Stem cells and organoids. Unlocking their potential to understand and treat disease
Febrero 2018 Nature PapersEnd of main content
 
			


