Regensburg 2019 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 12: Poster II

BP 12.67: Poster

Dienstag, 2. April 2019, 14:00–16:00, Poster B2

Microfluidic rock-like reactors to study the synthesis of the first nucleotides — •Thomas Matreux¹, Maximilian Weingart¹, Victor Sojo¹, David Lappe¹, Saidul Islam², Matt Powner², Christof B. Mast¹, and Dieter Braun¹ — ¹Systems Biophysics, Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) — ²Department of Chemistry, University College London (UCL)

The emergence of the first biomolecules is one of the most intriguing questions in the origins of life field. While synthesis pathways of nucleotides, amino acids and lipids were widely addressed in the last decade [1], their feasibility under geologically plausible boundary conditions is still unclear. How do laboratory experiments transfer to a realistic, prebiotic scenario with catalytic rock surfaces and thermal non-equilibrium boundary conditions and without clearly separated pipetting steps?

To address these questions, we have developed a microfluidic setup that allows for controlled, but prebiotically plausible sequential mixing by the presence of porous geo-material and provides an uninterrupted flow to produce activated nucleotides [1]. Microfluidic structures are made from FEP, which lets us focus on the interactions with the added synthetic rock. The reaction chambers are sandwiched between highly heat conducting sapphire plates ensuring complete thermal control including possible thermal gradients. This new experimental approach offers a variety of new reaction schemes by connecting prebiotic chemistry with geoscience and non-equilibrium physics.

[1] Sutherland Nature doi.org/10.1038/nature08013 (2009)