Origins Federation Unites Scientists to Explore Life's Cosmic Beginnings

Author: ETH Zurich
Published: 2023/03/05 - Updated: 2025/04/15
Publication Details: Peer-Reviewed, Informative
Category Topic: Anthropology and Disability - Academic Publications

Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main - Insights, Updates

Synopsis: This article provides an in-depth overview of the Origins Federation, a global research consortium uniting leading scientists from Harvard University, ETH Zurich, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Chicago to investigate the origins and early evolution of life in the universe. The article is particularly valuable for its accessible explanation of how multidisciplinary collaboration and advanced technologies are being leveraged to answer fundamental questions about life's emergence, both on Earth and potentially elsewhere. By highlighting the Federation's commitment to inclusive research and open collaboration, the article underscores the relevance of these scientific pursuits for a broad audience who may find inspiration in the universal quest to understand our place in the cosmos. The Federation's work, as described, not only advances scientific knowledge but also fosters opportunities for diverse participation in groundbreaking research, making the content both interesting and potentially useful for those seeking to engage with or learn from the latest developments in astrobiology and the life sciences - Disabled World (DW).

Introduction

Humanity's Quest to Discover the Origins of Life in the Universe

"We are living in an extraordinary moment in history," says Didier Queloz, who directs ETH Zurich's Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life and the Leverhulme Centre for Life in the Universe at Cambridge. While still a doctoral student Queloz was the first to discover an exoplanet - a planet orbiting a solar-type star outside of Earth's solar system. A discovery for which he would later receive a Nobel Prize in physics.

Main Content

Within a generation, scientists have discovered more than 5,000 exoplanets and predict the potential existence of trillions more in the Milky Way galaxy alone. Each discovery inspires more questions than answers about how and why life emerged on Earth and whether it exists elsewhere in the universe. Technological advancements, such as the James Webb Space Telescope and interplanetary missions to Mars, accelerate access to an overwhelming volume of new observations and data, such that it will take the convergence of a multidisciplinary network to understand the emergence of life in the universe.

ETH Zurich, Cambridge, Harvard, and Chicago Found the Origins Federation

Joining forces with chemist and fellow Nobel Laureate Jack Szostak and astronomer Dimitar Sasselov, Didier Queloz announced the founding of a new "Origins Federation" during the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). While a fictional interstellar federation might immediately spring to mind, this international alliance brings together the expertise of researchers working in the origins of life centers and initiatives at ETH Zurich, the University of Cambridge, Harvard University, and The University of Chicago.

Together, scientists will explore the chemical and physical processes of living organisms and environmental conditions hospitable to supporting life on other planets.

"The Origins Federation," Queloz commented, "builds upon a long-standing collegial relationship strengthened through a shared collaboration in a recently completed project with the Simons Foundation."

What Humanity Could Learn From Extra-Terrestrial Biosignatures

Such collaborations support the work of researchers like Zoology professor Emily Mitchell. Mitchell, who works with Queloz in Cambridge's Leverhulme Centre for Life in the Universe, is an ecological time traveler. She uses field-based laser-scanning and statistical, mathematical ecology on 580-million-year-old fossils of deep-sea organisms to determine the driving factors that influence the macro-evolutionary life patterns on Earth. Speaking during ETH Zurich's Origins of Life session at the AAAS, Mitchell took participants back in time to 4 billion years ago when Earth's early atmosphere - devoid of oxygen and steeped in methane - showed its first signs of microbial life. She spoke about how life survives in extreme environments and then evolves, offering potential Astro-biological insights into the origins of life elsewhere in the universe.

"As we begin to investigate other planets, through the Mars missions," Mitchell says, "biosignatures could reveal whether or not the origin of life itself and its evolution on Earth is just a happy accident or part of the fundamental nature of the universe, with all its biological and ecological complexities."

Colonizing Space with Synthetic Cells

While complex biological cells are not yet fully understood, synthetic cells allow biochemists, like Kate Adamala, University of Minnesota's Protobiology Lab, to deconstruct complex systems into simpler parts. Parts that allow scientists to understand the basic principles of life and evolution not only on Earth but potentially life on other planets in the solar system.

Adamala launched her quest to build life from scratch as a graduate student at Harvard, working with Nobel Laureate Jack Szostak. She endeavors to create simple, cell-like bioreactors resembling the earliest forms of life by applying engineering principles to biology. During the AAAS, Adamala explained how synthetic cells allow scientists to study life's past, present, and future in the universe. Unlike biological cells, it is possible to digitalize synthetic cells and transmit them across vast distances to create, for example, on-demand medication or vaccines - an "Astro-pharmacy" that could potentially support life on a spaceship or even a future Martian colony. Until such time, synthetic cells offer practical applications for humanity in terms of sustainable energy systems, higher crop yields, and biomedical therapies.

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What is Life?

While there is not yet a comprehensive definition of life, the quest to discover its origins has inspired enthusiasm and new collaborations and opened the doors within the scientific community's most hallowed halls.

Origins Federation

Researchers from four leading institutions are pleased to announce their intent to create a research consortium to facilitate efficient multidisciplinary and innovative collaborative research to advance our understanding of life's emergence and early evolution and its place in the cosmos.

The following centers establish the Origins Federation:

• The Origins of Life Initiative (Harvard University)
• Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life (ETH Zurich)
• Center for the Origins of Life (The University of Chicago)
• Leverhulme Centre for Life in the Universe (University of Cambridge)

The Origins Federation will pursue scientific research topics of interest to its founding centers with a long-term perspective and common milestones. It will strive to establish a stable funding platform to create opportunities for creative and innovative ideas and to enable young scientists to make a career in this new field.

The Origins Federation is open to new members, both centers and individuals, and is committed to developing the mechanisms and structure to achieve that aim. The Origins Federation's inaugural science conference will occur at Harvard University on September 12th - 15th, 2023.

Insights, Analysis, and Developments

Attribution/Source(s): This peer reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World (DW) due to its relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by ETH Zurich and published on 2023/03/05, this content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity.