The next installment of Science Café Cleveland will feature a discussion about the life’s origins Monday, July 13, from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Tasting Room of Great Lakes Brewing Co.
Nita Sahai, the Ohio Research Scholar Professor in the Department of Polymer Science at the University of Akron, will present “Origins of Life: Solving the Puzzle of How Life on Earth Began.”
Using a scientific approach, Sahai will discuss how the origins of life involved processes in which prebiotic organic compounds, supplied by the environment, self-organized into “protocells.” A protocell is an entity enclosed by a membrane, which is capable of both of metabolism for self-maintenance and of reproduction with genetic mutation.
During her presentation, Sahai will address the following questions:
- Before biology, what could have promoted the reactions essential to the emergence of protocells?
- Could the surfaces of some minerals, with specific chemical compositions and crystal structures, have played a role in the origins of life?
Limited menu options will be available for purchase during the presentation.
The Case Western Reserve University chapter of Sigma Xi, WCPN ideastream and Great Lakes Brewing Co. will sponsor the event.
More information about the event is available at case.edu/affil/sigmaxi/.