Preliminary Programme

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27

Arrival of participants at Venice Marco Polo Airport and Venice Central Station.
Assisted public waterbus transport to Venice International University (VIU).
Conference and accomodation check in at VIU.
Welcome Reception, snacks and drinks from 19:00 to 22:00

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMPER 28

09:00-09:15

Opening of the conference by Ignatio Musu, Dean of Venice International University (to be confirmed), and Günter von Kiedrowski, chairman of COST D27.

Session I: "Genetic biomolecules and their possible ancestors"
chaired by Peter Strazewski, Lyon (to be confirmed)

09:15-10:15

Opening keynote lecture
Albert Eschenmoser, Zürich & La Jolla:
Searching for Potentially Primordial Informational Oligomer Systems

10:15-10:45

Marie-Christine Maurel, Paris, coordinator of working group D27/005/03:
Inside the RNA world : The case of temperature and pressure

10:45-11:15

Coffee break

11:15-11:45

John Sutherland, Manchester, member of working group D27/005/03:
Potentially Prebiotic Formation and Reactions of Activated Nucleotides

11:45-12:15

Michael Göbel, Frankfurt, member of working group D27/005/03:
Non-Enzymatic Oligomerization of Ribonucleotides: Prospects and Limitations

12:15-13:00

Invited lecture in cooperation with the
European Center of Living Technology/ECLT, Venice
Peter E. Nielsen, Kopenhagen:
Peptide Nucleic Acid (PNA). A Psedopeptide with Sequence Information Relevance for the discussion of Origin of Life?

13:00-15:00

Lunch

Session II: "Between RNA and Astrobiology"
chaired by Irene Poli, ECLT, Venice (to be confirmed)

15:00-15:45

Invited lecture
Christof Biebricher, Göttingen:
Template-instructed, non-enzymic synthesis of RNA in frozen sea water

15:45-16:05

Sabine Müller, Bochum:
Allosteric regulation of ribozyme activity in response to surrounding conditions: a redox-sensitive riboswitch

16:05-16:25

Benoit Prieur, Paris:
The prebiotic role of boric acid

16:25-17:00

Coffee break

17:00-17:20

Hans Ziock, Los Alamos:
Title to be announced

17:20-17:40

Arvydas Tamulis, Vilnius:
Variety of Self-Replicating Complex Living Systems Based on Quantum Information

17:40-18:00

Zbig Zagorsky, Wroclaw:
Experimental simulation of inactivation of spores, caused by ionizing radiation in outer space

18:00-19:30

POSTER SESSION (with Spritz and ...)
chaired by Günter von Kiedrowski, Bochum
 
Karin Achilles, Bochum
Vladik Avetisov, Moscow
Grant Bare, Saskatchewan
Laurent Boiteau, Montpellier
Ran Eliash, Rehovot
Lars Eckardt, Bochum
Enzo Gallori, Florence
Irene Hartl, Darmstadt
Nils Hellwig, Bochum
Kepa Ruiz Mirazo, Bilbao
Sven Mönninghoff, Bochum
Marjeta Sentjurc, Ljubljana
Insa Stahl, Bochum
Saša Svetina, Ljubljana
Olga Taran, Mexico City
Taro Toyota, Tokyo
Jan Zimmermann, Bochum

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

Session III: "The signature of life: Chirality"
chaired by Vladik Avetisov, Moscow

09:00-10:00

Keynote lecture in cooperation with ECLT, Venice
Kenso Soai, Tokyo:
Asymmetric Autocatalysis with Amplification of Chirality

10:00-10:45

Meir Lahav, Rehovot, coordinator of working group D27/004/02:
"Symmetry Breaking" by Self-Assembly and Amplification of Chirality

10:45-11:15

Coffee break

11:15-12:00

Ben Feringa, Groningen, member of working group D27/004/02:
Control and Amplification of Molecular and Supramolecular Chirality

12:00-12:45

Invited lecture in cooperation with ECLT, Venice
Donna Blackmond, London:
Kinetic and Mechanistic Studies of Autocatalytic and Autoinductive Reactions

13:00-15:00

Lunch

Session IV: "Self-reproduction of protocells"
chaired by Eors Szathmary, Budapest

15:00-16:00

Keynote lecture in cooperation with ECLT, Venice
Tadashi Sugawara, Tokyo:
Construction of Robustly Self-Reproducing Giant Vesicles

16:00-16:30

Pier-Luigi Luisi, Rome, coordinator of working group D27/007/03:
Never-born proteins

16:30-17:00

Pasquale Stano/Pier-Luigi Luisi, Rome, working group D27/007/03:
Towards self-reproducing semi-synthetic minimal cells

17:00-17:30

Coffee break

17:30-18:00

Doron Lancet, Rehovot, working group D27/007/03:
Self-reproducing lipid protocells:
from molecular networks to oligomer takeover

18:00-18:45

Invited lecture in cooperation with the ECLT, Venice
John S. McCaskill, Bochum:
Microsystems Chemistry:
theory and experiment towards evolving programmable artificial cells

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

Session V: "Vesicular models of early cells"
chaired by Mark Bedeau, ECLT Venice (to be confirmed)

09:00-10:00

Keynote lecture
Antonio Lazcano, Mexico City: On the origin and early evolution of membranes: from the (prebiotic) fat of the land to the biosynthesis of lipids

10:00-10:30

Vesna Nöthig-Laslo, Zagreb, coordinator of working group D27/006/03:
Preparation and properties of functionalized vesicles as protocell models

10:30-11:00

Coffee break

11:00-11:30

Constantinos Paleos, Athens, working group D27/006/03:
Molecular Recognition of Liposomes: Multicompartment Systems Formation and Transport Phenomena

11:30-12:00

Peter Walde, Zürich, working group D27/006/03:
Vesicular compartments from potentially prebiotic amphiphiles

12:00-12:20

Helmut Zepik, Zürich, working group D27/006/03: Oligomerization of thioglutamic acid: Encapsulated reactions and lipid catalysis

12:20-12:40

Invited lecture in cooperation with ELCT, Venice
Martin Hanczyc, Venice:
Formation and replication of protocellular compartments

13:00-15:00

Lunch

Session VI: "Prebiotic models of metabolic pathways"
chaired by Martin Hanczyc, Venice

15:00-16:00

Keynote lecture
Sandra Pizzarello, Tempe:
Chembiogenesis: a meteoritic perspective

16:00-16:30

Laurent Boiteau, Montpellier, overview of working group D27/001/02:
Dynamic coevolution of peptides and chemical energetics, a gate towards the emergence of homochirality and nucleotides

16:30-17:00

Coffee break

17:00-17:20

Hans Kricheldorf, Hamburg, working group D27/001/02:
Polypeptides from alpha-Amino Acid N-Carboxyanhydrides

17:20-17:40

Alastair L. Parkes, Manchester, working group D27/001/02:
Expeditious Potentially Prebiotic Aminoacylation of Nucleotides

17:40-18:00

Tom Lenaerts, Brussels, working group D27/001/02:
Coevolving of network topology and molecular concentrations, in silico simulations of the emergence of homochirality and chemical evolution

18:00-18:30

Jean Claude Micheau, Toulouse, working group D27/001/02:
A kinetic understanding of the mirror-symmetry breaking occurring in the Soai reaction

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1

Session VII: "Theory: Evolution & Catalytic Networks"
chaired by Norman Packard, Venice

09:00-10:00

Keynote lecture in cooperation with ECLT, Venice
Peter Schuster, Vienna:
Some implications of the RNA model for a prebiotic world

10:00-10:30

Peter F. Stadler, Leipzig, organisator of working group D27/003/02:
Title to be announced

10:30-11:00

Coffee break

11:00-11:30

Mauro Santos, Barcelona, working group D27/003/02:
The Path towards "Riborgis eigensis" (The Last Ribo-organism before LUCA)

11:30-12:00

Eörs Szathmáry, Budapest, Action vice chairman, working group D27/003/02:
Title to be announced

12:00-12:30

Peter Strazewski, Lyon: (to be confirmed) Title to be announced

12:30-12:50

Emergency slot

13:00-15:00

Lunch

Session VIII: "Experimental: Systems & Synthesis"
chaired by Peter Nielsen, Copenhagen (to be confirmed)

15:00-16:00

Keynote lecture in cooperation with ECLT, Venice
Reza Ghadiri, La Jolla:
Toward Synthetic Biology: Design and Study of Complex Peptide Networks

16:00-16:30

Invited COST Inter-Action lecture
Dieter Schinzer, Magdeburg, co-rapporteur of COST D27:
Synthetic Routes towards Epothilones and Sorangicins

16:30-17:00

Coffee break

17:00-17:30

Günter von Kiedrowski, Bochum, chairman:
Systems Chemistry - A Perspective

17:30-18:30

General discussion moderated by Günter von Kiedrowski, Eörs Szathmáry, Peter Strazewski

18:30

Conference closure

20:00

Conference dinner