It is unclear how evolution started, but we know it did and since then drove the development of all the lifeforms we find today. Indeed, this innovative power of evolution has an unmatched potential for problem-solving but is limited by the chemical and physical properties of its molecules.

Today life uses both nucleic acids and proteins, and lately also metal, alloys, electronics, and computer programs, to exist and to solve its problems. But it did not start like that. Nucleic acids are so far the only genetic polymers we know, having the potential to start the process of Darwinian evolution and life still relies on them. Importantly, nucleic acids not only include RNA and DNA, but other unnatural chemically modified polymers exist in the family as well, which has yet unexplored potential. These nucleic acids, natural as well as unnatural, can unluck the engine room of cells and is used in biotechnology and medicine.  Therefore, evolution of new nucleic acid molecules poses great promise for resolving how life emerge, solving new emerging problem in new ways, and improving biotechnology and medicine.

Exploring the Origins of Life on Danish Podcast Vildt Naturligt (danish)

In a recent episode of DR’s podcast Vildt Naturligt, Assistant Professor Emil Laust Kristoffersen discusses his research on artificial evolution and the conditions that made life possible. The episode is hosted by biologists Johan Olsen and Vicky Knudsen and produced by Carsten Nielsen.

Villum Young Investigator Grant Funds RNA research

Emil Laust Kristoffersen have been awarded a Villum Young Investigator grant of DKK 7 mio. for his project, The Circles of Life – Exploring RNA-Catalyzed Rolling Circle Self-Replication. The funding will enable Emil to establish a research team, including a PhD student and a postdoc.

Can we reinvent life in the laboratory?

Emil Laust Kristoffersen has written a popular science book titled "Da livet opstod", released by Aarhus University Press. He looks inward to find the origin of life. Perhaps our own cells and genetic material can bring us closer to understanding whether life arose on the young Earth or arrived on meteorites from space. With both feet firmly planted on Earth, he is attempting to recreate the very first traces of life in a test tube.