Materials Chemistry at the Origin of Life

Watch online on demand on The Reaction!

Monday 8 November 2010, 17.30 for 18.00-20.00
The Library, The Chemistry Centre, Burlington House

Nanotechnology - the science of working on scales where you can see individual atoms and where quantum effects reign supreme. When working with materials at such scales, they have very different properties to the larger scales that we are more familiar with. This change of properties has allowed creation of devices like quantum dot lasers and devices that harvest light or target delivery of toxic drugs.

However, with our increased understanding of nanotechnology, can we use our knowledge to examine life itself? Professor Tony Ryan demonstrates how we can use nanotechnology to shed light some of the most fundamental questions: how did life begin on Earth, and how might it have begun in other environments?

Watch this lecture on demand on The Reaction.