When and where did intracellular potassium arrive at the origins of life?

Potassium, K+, is the major intracellular cation in all types of living cells, but we don't know where it came from. This is arguably an elephant in the room of research on the origins of life. Was K+ present in the environment where protocells emerged, or was it pumped, against a concentration gradient, into early cells or protocells? The pros, cons, and evidence for these possibilities will be presented and discussed.

Event Recording:

The event will be held on October 13, from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm PDT. 

When is this in my time zone?

This event is organized by BPS member Helen Greenwood Hansma, University of California, Santa Barbara. 

Event host website: http://web.physics.ucsb.edu/~hhansma/Potassium.html

Event Speakers

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Meng Guo, Yale University, will speak on "Argon constraints on the Early development of massive potassium-rich continental crus and the onset of plate tectonics."

Armen Mulkidjanian, University of Osnabrück Germany, will speak on "Emergence of first cells at K+-rich, anoxic geothermal fields."

Helen Greenwood Hansma, University of California at Santa Barbara, will speak on "Biology from biotite: how the first cells might have acquired their high intracellular K+"

Discussion will be encouraged after each talk, facilitated by Tomoko Bell, a postdoc at the University of Guam, and Hanna Marthe Douwes, a graduate student at Uppsala University.

Event Schedule

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