Of all of life’s mysteries, perhaps the greatest is how life first originated on planet Earth, and whether life exists elsewhere in the universe. Scientists initially believed that all Earth life forms emerged from nonliving matter (a process known as spontaneous generation). We now know that life begets life, but that still doesn’t answer the question of how the first life forms evolved.

In 1953 Stanley Miller synthesized organic molecules by recreating a primordial atmosphere in the lab. Remarkably these same organic molecules are now known to be drifting in outer space, created in the interstellar dust of deceased stars. A number of hypotheses on the origin of life on Earth have developed over the years: Did life evolve in primordial seas or deep-sea hydrothermal vents, or does life have an extraterrestrial origin? We also want to know how the genetic code originated and how the first cells formed. Scientists have made significant progress on these fronts, and our first speaker, Antonio Lazcano, will bring us up to date on this fascinating area of research.

We also wonder about our place in the universe — are there other life forms out there? Did or does Mars have life? Could Jupiter’s moon, Europa have life? Our Milky Way Galaxy has 100 billion stars and the universe has at least 10 billion galaxies — how many of these stars have a planetary system? How many of these systems include planets with Earth-like conditions? Given all the stars and the numerous planets that we have just begun to document, it seems unimaginable that life has not evolved elsewhere in the universe. Our second speaker, Jeffery Bada, will discuss the science and strategies involved in searching for life in outer space.

Humans often seek to know the “true” meaning of life. Perhaps by exploring these ideas, we’ll get a better understanding of that ultimate question.

Speakers

Jeffrey Bada is director of the NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training in Exobiology at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. Along with advising and teaching graduate courses in geochemistry, Bada directs research on the accretion of organic material on the primitive earth and has served as lead investigator for the Mars Organic Detector. He has published over 200 articles in scientific peer-reviewed journals, including Science and Nature,and presented papers at national and international meetings, such as the European Geophysical Society, the Geological Society of America, the American Chemical Society, and the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Bada also co-authored The Spark of Life: Darwin and the Primeval Soup, which was published in 2000. He holds a BS from San Diego State University and a PhD from the University of California–San Diego.

Antonio Lazcano is a biology researcher and professor at the Universidad Nacional Autόnoma de México in Mexico City. Lazcano pursued his undergraduate and graduate studies at UNAM, where he focused on the study of prebiotic evolution and the emergence of life, a subject he’s continued to study for 30 years. A professor-in-residence or visiting scientist in France, Spain, Cuba, Switzerland, Russia, and the United States, he has written several books in Spanish, including The Origin of Life, published in 1984. He has also served as a member of several advisory and review boards of scientific organizations, such as NASA, and currently serves as president of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life.

Allan W. Hook is the Lucian Professor of Natural Sciences at St. Edward’s University. Hook, who organized this symposium, has taught at St. Edward’s since 1988. His research focuses on the behavior and biodiversity of solitary wasps in North, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Australia. He has authored or co-authored nearly 40 papers on these subjects. Hook holds a BS in Biology from the University of Maine, an MS in Entomology from the University of Georgia and a PhD in Zoology and Entomology from Colorado State University.