Membranes as catalytic surfaces for prebiotic self-organization (B11)

• Subject Area: Biochemistry
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 521256690

The hypothesis underlying this proposal is that early membranes could have played a key catalytic role for the origin of biological self-organization. In this project, we aim to investigate how pattern and gradient formation on membrane surfaces could have been implemented with early biomolecules, prior to the emergence of complex proteins. To this end, we will construct in a system of nucleic acids reaction design features of the bacterial MinDE proteins, one of the simplest known pattern-forming biological systems that our group has been functionally elucidating for the past years.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 392: Molecular evolution in prebiotic environments
• Applicant Institution: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
• Project Head: Professorin Dr. Petra Schwille, since 1/2024