The study of the origin of life occurs at an intersection of chemistry, physics, biology, geology, astronomy, and other fields. Conversations between these fields yield new insight and correct biases that are often invisible to individuals operating within a single discipline. This forthcoming Gordon Research Conference will explore new work in the origins field from planetary sciences to biochemistry and paleontology, covering the first billion years of the earth’s history. The sessions will provide a state-of-the-art update of the field, while also providing room for discussion and debate on some of the larger outstanding questions in our understanding of the origin of life. Sessions will attempt to provide the basic constraints on the starting material for the origin of life, and how the first biological material arose: the transition point from prebiotic chemistry to biochemistry. It will also cover habitable worlds and the search for life elsewhere, the innovation that comes from origins research, environments amenable to polymer formation, and the role of minerals in prebiotic chemistry.
The GRC will integrate with the preceding GRS (Gordon Research Seminar) both by asking the latter to report on exciting research forthcoming from new researchers, and by promoting active discussion to the conference. Funding is being sought to allow partial travel and registration support for both the GRC and the GRS for graduate students and postdoctoral scientists who participate as presenters in the Gordon Research Seminar.