1. President’s opening. The out-going President, A. Brack, handed the gavel of presidency over to the new President, J.W. Schopf. Schopf thanked Brack, recognizing his effort and wisdom in running the Society for the past three years. Welcoming the new members of the EC, Schopf emphasized two important characteristics of the Society: internationality and equality of all members.

2. Secretary’s report. The out-going Secretary, D.L. DeVincenzi, summarized the election results of the EC 1999-2002 (see "Election ’99 results", ISSOL NL 26(2) 1999). The ~60% return of ballots was deemed a good level of response. The Society has now 470 members (as of July 13 1999); 31 of whom are members have not paid their dues for 3 years or more. They are proposed to be dropped from the membership list; however, they will receive a final reminder to catch up in their payments from the Secretary. The EC recommended investigating the possibility of accepting additional credit cards to facilitate payment of dues, especially for non-US members. Members have also the opportunity to pay their dues at the triennial meetings.

Open action items from the last EC meeting (see minutes in ISSOL NL 23(3/4) 1996) are: (i) preparation of an ISSOL brochure and membership application package by Schopf, Lazcano, and Brack; (ii) implementation of the new rules for ISSOL Fellows Selection Committee. In response to a questionnaire concerning electronic distribution of the ISSOL NL only 5% of all members responding preferred this option. The revised Society by-laws were discussed and unanimously adopted. Schopf acknowledged the excellent work DeVincenzi and Acevedo have performed for the Society. The following item was added for clarification: ad Article 5, Section 5.2. Oparin/Urey awardees will automatically become ISSOL Fellows, but will not receive a Fellows plaque. The following amendments were discussed: (i) ad Article 3, Section 3.2. Schopf proposed that in addition to the immediate past president, all immediate past officers shall be members ex-officio of the EC. This option would foster the continuity of the Society’s business. After adoption by the EC, it was agreed to present this proposal at the Open Business Meeting; (ii) Lazcano suggested that students (associate members) could also be nominated for the EC. This item was postponed for the next EC meeting. The updated membership roster was distributed. Schopf again thanked DeVincenzi and Acevedo for their superb service to the Society.

3. Treasurer’s report. Treasurer D. Deamer gave a report of the income and expenses in the last three years (see full report elsewhere in this newsletter). The last meeting in Orleans resulted in a surplus of about 10 000 US $ (Brack gift). Part of this sum was used for travel grants given to Russian participants. A total of 28,000 US$ was spent from the ISSOL travel funds, to support junior scientists and those from Eastern Europe to participate in this meeting. A financial committee was formed to investigate the possibility of financial investment and the impact this might have on ISSOL’s tax status in the USA’s taxation system. Deamer proposed that dues to be increased, because several upcoming activities of the Society (e.g., ISSOL web page, new Secretary and NL editor without support from NASA) will increase the expenses. The new rates of 35.00 US$ per year for full members and 20.00 US$ for associate members were approved and will go into effect in 2000.

4. OLEB Editor’s report. J. Ferris, as out-going editor of OLEB, reported that A. Schwartz has been elected as new editor of OLEB and will take over on January 1, 2000. However, Schwartz will receive the ISSOL ’99 manuscripts for OLEB after this meeting. Ferris gave an overview of the "health" of OLEB (see OLEB editor’s report) and reported on discussions at the Editorial Board meeting to take action to modernize the journal and to speed up publication. It is foreseen that the OLEB abstracts will be published on the ISSOL web page. There are now 220 subscriptions, with 50 by individuals and 170 by libraries. Schopf thanked Ferris for his effective editorship in the past years.

5. LOC organizers’ report. In his role as chairperson of the ISSOL ’99 Local Organizing Committee (LOC) J. Bada together with administrator B. Baity gave an interim report of the success of the meeting. A total of 346 persons from 22 countries had already registered. 244 presentations are scheduled as lectures, talks or posters. To increase the number of oral presentations, for the first time, parallel sessions were arranged in the afternoon. Each day, one and a half hour was allotted for poster sessions. Posting the meeting announcements on the web was a success and should be continued for the next meeting, including registration and payment on the web. Schopf complemented the LOC on the work done for ISSOL ’99.

6. President’s address for ISSOL in the new Millennium. Schopf suggested that ISSOL should increase its internationalism and visibility by becoming the scientific/professional home for the interdisciplinary community in exo/astrobiology that will grow and become strong within the next 2-3 decades. A committee, representing Asia (Shimoyama), Russia and East Europe (Kritsky), Europe (Schwartz), Middle America (Lazcano) and USA (Schopf) should look into means to pursue these outreach efforts, e.g. by preparing an attractive information package and addressing potential members by mail and/or electronically. The EC unanimously supported this outreach approach.

7. ISSOL 2002 Meeting site. Two formal proposals were obtained from Mexico and India. China and Scotland have also indicated interest to host ISSOL in the future, but so far no official proposals have been submitted by them. A. Lazcano presented the Mexican proposal. The meeting would be organized by the University of Mexico (several members of the proposed LOC are ISSOL members) to take place at a former convent in Oaxaca, about 465 km southeast of Mexico City. All facilities necessary for the meeting (including hotels, airport and consulates) are available. V.L. Tewari presented the Indian proposal. The meeting would take place in the new Science Center of Delhi that provides all necessary infrastructure. Hotels are located within walking distance. The meeting would be organized by the director and scientists of WIHG, the host institution. The best time of year for pleasant weather in India would be Fall (September).
After consideration of both sites and the fact that Mexico was the official backup site for the ’99 meeting, the EC approved Oaxaca as the site for the 2002 meeting. Schopf encouraged the EC to consider a place in Asia (India, Japan, China) or East Europe as 2005 meeting site.

8. ISSOL web page and ISSOL Newsletter (NL). To foster communication among ISSOL members, the ISSOL web page will be extended by Deamer. Authors of OLEB papers will be encouraged to provide an "advertisement" of any upcoming article (e.g. abstract) for the ISSOL web. The new editor of the ISSOL NL, F. Raulin asked all EC members to actively contribute to the NL. He would appreciate receiving contributed articles by e-mail. Raulin suggested that from now on, the NL will be posted on the ISSOL web. All members would then be informed by e-mail (or mail if no e-mail address is known) when each new issue of the NL is posted on the web. The EC agreed to start with the new NL posted on the web. All contributions for the next NL have to reach Raulin by September 1, 1999 ( raulin@lisa.univ-paris12.fr).

Gerda Horneck

ISSOL Secretary

The chairpersons of the scientific sessions at the ISSOL’99 meeting in San Diego have provided he following summaries of the presentations from their sessions. The book of abstract from the meeting and an upcoming issue of the Journal Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere, dedicated to full papers from the meeting, can provide additional information.

André Brack (Chair) & Kaoru Harada (Co-Chair)

Following an ancient ISSOL tradition based on chronological order, ISSOL’99 started with the abiotic syntheses, the source of prebiotic organics. François Raulin opened fire by presenting an exhaustive review of gas phase chemistry in the planetary atmospheres. Following increasing chemical complexity, he presented the different pathways from volatiles to the refractory solids " tholins ", the hydrolysis of which leads to many interesting prebiotic compounds. Observing and modeling the atmospheric chemistry of the planets and moons of the Solar System (giant planets, Venus, Mars, Titan) helps to better understand the physical and chemical processes which led to life on the primitive Earth.

The study of carbonaceous chondrites allows a close examination of extraterrestrial solid organic material of prebiotic importance delivered to the Earth. George Cooper reported the first detection of a series of polyols (sugar alcohols) in two carbonaceous meteorites, Murchison and Murray. This series extends through at least the four-carbon members. Because there was aqueous alteration on the parent bodies of carbonaceous meteorites and formaldehyde is a ubiquitous interstellar molecule, the polyols could have been abiotically synthesized via the Formose reaction, i.e. the autocondensation of formaldehyde in aqueous solution.

Günter Wächtershäuser brought experimental data demonstrating the mandatory participation of FeS in an iron sulfur world. The formation of activated acetic acid represents a key reaction in the archaic feeder pathway. The energy-conserving reduction of keto acids was presented as typical of the archaic reproduction cycle whereas the formation of amino acids by reductive amination illustrates a key reaction in the branch pathways. For many years, Günter Wächtershäuser was criticized for being only a theoretician. With the experimental data presented in the session, the iron sulfur world which he advocates appears rather convincing.

Gyury Steinbrecher, on behalf of Romanian group of Craiova, promoted the role of boron compounds in prebiotic chemistry despite the low natural abundance of the element in both rocks and living systems. Boron has been shown to decrease the thermal decomposition rate of D-glucose and D-ribose at pH 8. The decomposition products form complexes with boron and the monosccharides at high temperature and for this reason protect the latter from thermal degradation. The protective role of boron in the context of the origin of life at high temperature was discussed.

Dietmar Glindemann, Rob M. DeGraaf and Alan W. Schwartz presented a paper on " Chemical Reduction and Activation of Phosphate on the Primitive Earth ". Phosphorus is an important element in living organisms, and therefore important in chemical evolutionary processes on the primitive Earth. However, the solubilities of various orthophosphates are usually too low to participate chemical evolutionary processes. In this presentation, the authors attempted to establish an alternate route to incorporate phosphorus produced by prebiotic chemical process (lightning discharge) into bio-organic compounds. By the use of this familiar method, the authors have succeeded to reduce phosphate to phosphate in substantial yield. The phosphate might be synthesized and concentrated in volcanic area and react thermally with nucleosides to form nucleoside phosphites, which could be converted to nucleotides by oxidation. In this presentation, it has been demonstrated, that lightning is an effective reducing process of phosphate to phosphate. .

Arthur L. Weber presented a paper on " Formation of Amino Acid Thioesters for Prebiotic Products Peptide Synthesis: Catalysis by Amino Acid ". The origin of life could be understood by a sequence of chemical reactions in which the catalytic activities of the products could control the whole reaction system.The paper deals with the author's [sugar model of prebiological evolution] starting with formaldehyde, glycolaldehyde, ammonia and thiol, in addition to an aqueous reaction media. The two starting aldehydes form trioses, tetrose, and a-ketoaldelyde. These carbonyl compounds could react with ammonia and thiol to form various carbonyl compound and amino acid thioesters. The latter could be converted to peptides, which was catalyzed the whole sequence of chemical reactions. The author attempts to establish the [sugar model of chemical evolution] experimentally and also speculatively using prebiological starting materials under mild reaction conditions.

Markus Blocher, Daojun Lîu, Pier Luigi Luisi presented a paper entitled " Liposome-assisted Selective Polycondensation of a -amino acids and Peptides ". The presentation deals with the formation of functional polypeptide by polycondensation of amino acids in the presence of lipidic bilayers. Two kinds of réactions were carried out : 1 ) The polycondensation of N-carboxy anhydrides of amino acîds with and without lipid, and 2) The polycondensation of dipeptides with and without lipid in the presence of condensing agent (EEDQ). In reaction 1), longer oligomers (up to 29mer) were obtained by using hydrophorbic amino acid NCAs in the presence of lipid, whereas up to 7mer was obtained without lipid. In reaction 2), dipeptide (i. e. H-TrpTrp-OH) yielded higher oligomer, up to 8mer of Trp, in the presence of lipid, whereas 4mer of Try was obtained without lipid. A mixture of four different dipeptides was subjected for copolycondensation in the presence of lipid and EEDQ. The most hydrophorbic dipeptide was selected for higher oligomer formation. The effects of hydrophorbicity and electrostatic property of the reactants in the copolycondensation were studied.

André Brack (CBM-CNRS, Orléans, France) & Kaoru Harada (Takarazuka, Japan)

James Ferris (Chair) & Sherwood Chang (Co-Chair)

Methane in the archean atmosphere (James F. Kasting).
Methanogens can utilize hydrogen, which should have been relatively abundant in the Archean atmosphere, for the formation of methane from carbon dioxide. Model calculations predict prebiotic concentrations of 0.1%. Photochemical calculations indicate that a biological source equivalent to the present day one could have produced methane mixing ratios on the order of 10^-3. Climate model calculations show that this amount of methane could have had a major warming effect on the Earthís climate and may have been important in off setting the effects of the faint young Sun.

Production of reactive nitrogen in explosive volcanic clouds (Rafael Navarro-Gonzalez et al).
Volcanic lightning wars simulated in the laboratory using a hot and dense plasma produced by flowing a gas mixture into a microwave discharge cavity where the gases were excited at 7 torr. Nitric oxide was found to be the major product formed from a mixture of water, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, CO and hydrogen. If was estimated that about 5 x 10¹²g of NO could have been produced annually by volcanic clouds occurring about 4 gya.

Oxygen and oxidizing free-radicals in the hydropsphere of early Earth (Ivan G. Draganic).
Liquid water is considered to be the medium in which the origin of life took place. Molecular oxygen, hydrogen peroxide and various short-lived species, such as the radicals OH and HOO are formed in irradiated water. The generation of these species takes place continuously becaus e of the decay of potassiom-40. Present radiation experiments suggest the intrinsic oxidizing capacity of the early hydrosphere.

Cr oxygen barometry: oxidation state of the mantle-derived volatiles through time (John W. Delano).
The oxidation state of the atmosphere of the primitive Earth is a key parameter in some scenarios for the origin of life. If the Earthís atmosphere/hydrosphere began principally by mantle degassing, the low oxidation state depends on a persistent low oxidation state of the mantle to resupply the atmosphere with volatiles at a rate to compensate for its degradation by solar UV. Since the original abundances of Cr in ancient mantle-derived magmas can be preserved, measured abundances have been used to estimate the oxidation state of the Earth’s mantle and hence the composition of derived volatiles. Results indicate that the mantle reservoirs responsible for generating the greatest volumes of magmas have been at or near current oxidation states for at least 3.8 Ga.

Experimental investigations into dynamic organic reaction neteworks at high T and P in aqueous medium (George T. Cody et al).
The research focused on deep sea hydrothermal vents as promising environments for prebiotic systems. These greatly expands the possibility of life beyond the narrow band of solar luminosity that supports liquid water and accommodates the possibility of biochemistry similar to that of terrestrial life on the early Earth and other planetary bodies. Organic reactions have been studied under conditions that mimic hydrothermal systems. Using a C-H-O system, a well-connected chemical network was found which involved a range of reversible reactions defining metastable equilibria. The reaction network is sensitive to pressure, temperature and fluid composition. Mineral catalysis, specifically with transition metal sulfides, is critical for the establishment of a number of the metastable equilibria.

Lipid formation by aqueous Fisher-Tropsch-type synthesis over a temperature range of 100-400 ^oC (Ahmed I. Rushdi and Bernd R. T. Simoneit).
The formation of lipid compounds was observed during an aqueous Fisher-Tropsch-type reaction with oxalic acid as the carbon source. The reactions were conducted in stainless steel vessels by heating the oxalic acid solutions from 100-400 ^oC. At temperatures above 150 ^oC the lipid components formed ranged from C₁₂ to >C₃₃ and included n-alkanols, n-alkanoic acids, n-alkanes, n-alkenes and n-alkanones. Significant cracking was observed at 400 ^oC and polycyclic hydrocarbons and their alkylated homologs were formed. The maximum yield of oxygenated compounds was observed at 150-250 ^oC.

Origin of life without biopolymers: a lipid world scenario (Doren Lancet et al).
The possible role of lipid-like amphiphilic substances capable of forming micelles and bilayers is analyzed. A "Lipid World" scenario is proposed as an early step in molecular evolution. The model is analyzed through computer simulations with stochastic chemical kinetics rules. This results in homeostatic preservation of molecular composition and assembly growth. It is claimed that when aggregates of amphiphiles are kept from equilibrium a rudimentary form of natural selection can occur.

Layered double hydroxides and the origins of life (Joseph D. Boclair et al).
Layed double hydroxides (LDH) are anion exchanging minerals that occur in nature that can bind organic anionic species which may be relevant to the origins of life on Earth. The carbonate bound to the LDH hydrotalcite is not displaced by ferrocyanide but the iron complex is bou nd to the outside of the mineral. Hydrogen bonding is also a factor in binding to LDH minerals. Certain LDH minerals catalyze the polymerization of cyanide and the hydrolysis of urea.

Polyester facilitated condensation of a-amino acids. New model for abiotic synthesis of peptides (Lazlo Sipos).
alpha-Hydroxy acids are always formed with alpha-amino acids in the Miller-Urey experiment. Heating alpha-hydroxy acids with amino acids around 100 ^oC gives polymers with incorporated amino acids. It was found that peptide-containing compounds were formed in these polymers. The presence of the hydroxy acids inhibits the condensation of the amino acids to diketopiperazines.

compiled by James Ferris (RPI, Troy, USA)

Stanley Miller (Chair) & Michael Robertson (Co-Chair)

The Prebiotic Chemistry 2 parallel session was interesting and informative, with presentations of cutting edge prebiotic chemistry research from labs representing a diverse assortment of countries. A majority of the talks addressed issues relating to the synthesis and chemistry of nucleosides, ranging from the phosphorylation of sugars and nucleosides to the oligomerization of nucleotides. Other presentations introduced a novel prebiotic acetylating agent and a hypothesis for the origin of metabolic pathways.

Carlos Estvez (with I. Sust and A. Alabau) from the Institut Universitari de Cincia i Tecnologia in Barcelona Spain described the use of chloroacetaldehyde cyanohydrin as a potentially prebiotic acetylating agent. The acetylation of aniline by chloroacetaldehyde in the presence of cyanide to form acetanilide was studied as a model system. The proposed reaction mechanism proceeds via the formation of acetyl cyanide which is the ultimate acetylating agent. Yields as high as 25% were reported for this model reaction.

Ram Krishnamurthy (with G. Arrhenius and A. Eschenmoser) from The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla California presented recent research concerning the phosphorylation of glycoaldehyde by amidotriphosphate (AmTP). AmTP was able to efficiently phosphorylate glycoaldehyde in dilute aqueous solution under mild conditions in which other potential phosphorylating agents such as trimetaphosphate did not react. AmTP is formed from trimetaphosphate and aqueous ammonia.

Wang Wenqing (with H. Li and J. Wu) from Peking University in Beijing China spoke about the formation of novel phosphoxy derivatives of the pyrimidines cytosine, uracil, and thymine in aqueous phosphate solutions exposed to far UV irradiation. This type of UV induced damage is irreversible and would represent a potential challenge for the prebiotic accumulation of nucleobases. However, the authors also find that the presence other classes of prebiotic compounds such as amino acids and flavonoids can protect the pyrimidines from this type of UV damage.

Yukio Yamagata from the Laboratory of Chemical Evolution in Ishikawa Japan presented his investigations of the phosphorylation of nucleotides by calcium phosphate with cyanate as the condensing reagent. Using this method he was able to synthesize nucleoside-5’-diphosphates from precursor nucleoside monophosphates, and nucleoside-5’-triphosphates from nucleoside diphosphates. In one experiment, ATP was formed in 7% yield from a starting solution of AMP. The use of several other condensing agents and other metal ions were not as successful.

Geoffrey Zubay from New York’s Columbia University presented a review of the current status of prebiotic nucleotide synthesis. Particular focus was placed on recent advances in the author’s lab concerning the synthetic routes to purine nucleobases, selectivity for ribose synthesis imparted by the presence of lead (II) in the formose reaction, and improved methods for phosphorylating nucleosides.

Anastassia Kanavarioti (with F. Lee) from the University of California at Santa Cruz presented a detailed study of the dimerization of imidazolide activated nucleotides in solution. Kinetic analysis of the dimerization reaction coupled with computer simulations indicate that base stacking occurs in a cooperative fashion and is assisted by the presence of the imidazolide activating group and divalent metal ions.

Koichiro Matsuno from Nagaoka University of Technology in Nagaoka Japan described oligomerization experiments performed in a flow reactor designed to simulate submarine hydrothermal vent systems. A solution of glycine circulated through the reactor at 200-250°C eventually led to the formation of glycine oligomers up to octamers. In similar experiments, a circulated solution of AMP led to formation of dimers and trimers.

H. James Cleaves (with S. Miller) from the University of California at San Diego presented the theoretical framework and experimental support for a semi-enzymatic hypothesis for the origin of the biosynthetic pathways. The hypothesis requires that most reactions of primitive multi-step metabolic pathways would have initially proceeded non-enzymatically until catalysts were eventually evolved to enhance the efficiency of the reactions. Experimental support for this idea was found for the biosynthetic pathway of quinolinic and nicotinic acids from the non-enzymatic reaction of dihydroxyacetone phosphate and aspartic acid.

Stanley Miller (UCSD, La Jolla, USA) & Michael Robertson (University of Texas, Austin, USA)

Akira Shimoyama (Chair) & Dilip Kondepudi (Co-Chair)

K. A. Kvenvolden presented a historical perspective of the amino acid analyses in the Murchison meteorite. He nicely described his group’s application of the optical isomer separation of amino acids by a GC method and showed a successful result which had enabled to convince the presence of meteoritic amino acids in the Murchison. Further, he discussed the use of the isomer ratios to know an extent of terrestrial amino acid contamination showing a result of another Murchison sample which was analyzed after a several year of terrestrial storage. A good review was made by one of the pioneers in this field.

Cronin and Pizzarello’s paper was presented comprehensively by Pizzarello. She showed a good GC-MS result of small but significant enantiomer excesses of alpha-methyl-alpha-amino acids in the Murchison. Since these amino acids are rare in terrestrial biosphere, terrestrial contamination for these excesses can be excluded. She proposed a possibility of partial photoresolution of racemic mixture as a result of exposure to UV circularly polarized light in the presolar cloud. It is nice to know that a new hypothesis with analytical data was brought up to the origin of homochirality from the study of amino acid enantiomers in the meteorite.

Albert Eshenmoser summarized the results of his group's study of pentopyranosyl nucleic acid (PNA) oligomerization. Oligomerization of PNA from tetramers is highly chiroselective and consequently longer polymers are predominantly homochiral. The implications of this process for the origin of biomolecular homochirality is that as "libraries" of large homochiral L- and D-polymers form, the number of possible sequences will far exceed the number of molecules. Since oligomerization is stochastic, this implies that the D- and L-libraries are no longer identical, i.e., chiral symmetry is broken due to complexity. It is then possible, that some of the sequences, either in the L- or in the D-libraries had the properties needed to establish life.

This was followed by short reports by J. Bailey who reported on the discovery of a large component of circular polarization in light scattered from interstellar clouds and its implications for the generation of enantiomeric excess; a report by S. Goldberg on the mechanisms that can produce homochirality; a report by G. Polyi on chiral confirmations giving rise to enantioselectivity and a report by D. Kondepudi on chiral autocatalysis near solid surfaces as observed in crystallization experiments and its implications for generating enantiomeric excess.

Akira Shimoyama (University of Tsukuba, Japan) & Dilip Kondepudi (Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA)

Jeffrey L. Bada (Chair) & Luann Becker (Co-Chair)

This session was organized to bring together astronomers, cosmochemists, theorists and experimentalists to evaluate the contributions of extraterrestrial organics to the origin of life on Earth and other solar system bodies. A total of nine papers were scheduled; one, "From the interstellar medium to the Earth's oceans and atmosphere via comets - An isotopic study" was not presented because the author Akiva Bar-Nun was unable to attend.

The session began with a paper "Evolution and survival of complex organics in space" presented by Pascale Ehrenfreund. Relevant laboratory and theoretical studies pertaining to the evolution, ionization, destruction and survival of complex organic molecules in the interstellar medium (ISM) was discussed. The transport and delivery of these complex organic compounds to the solar system was also discussed. This talk was followed by one titled "Experimental Simulation of the photodegradation of large organic molecules in the cometary environment" presented by H. Cottin. A discussion of the compound polyoxymethlene (POM), a possible parent molecule of aldehydes, and the photodegradation of hexamethyltetramine (HMT), which could be a parent molecule of the CN radical, was presented.

Karen Brinton of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) next presented "The cosmogeochemistry of amino acid synthesis from hydrogen cyanide". Glycine was found to be the main amino acid produced from HCN polymerization, accounting for 75 % to 98% of the total amino acids produced. A discussion of the unique distribution of amino acids produced directly from HCN as a possible means of identifying the origin of these compounds in extraterrestrial samples was presented.

The next paper "Simulations of cometary ice: large molecule synthesis and self-assembly properties" by Jason Dwokin of NASA Ames, presented data from laboratory simulations and infrared observations of large organic molecules in cometary ices. A rich mixture of complex organic compounds, similar to those observed in some IDPs and meteorites were detected. When dispersed in water, this organic material formed 10-40 mm droplets similar to those produced from extracts of the Murchison CM chondrite in experiments conducted by David Deamer. The next paper " Abiogenic synthesis of guanine nucleotides under the action of vacuum ultraviolet" was presented by Natalia Gontareva. Dry films of guanosine, deoxyguanosine, phosphate and NaH₂PO₄ where mounted on the Mir spacecraft and exposed to UV. Low yields of both 5’-guanosinemonophosphate and 5’-deoxyguanosinemonophospate were obtained.

Jennifer Blank from the University of California, Berkeley then presented "An experimental study of the shock reactivity and stability of cometary organic matter". Using a gas-gun to produce impact velocities of 0.5 to 2.5 km/s, the survivability of the amino acids lysine and norvaline were evaluated. Both of these amino acids survived the shock heating simulated in these experiments. Next, Luann Becker of the University of Hawaii presented "Fullerenes and the flux of extraterrestrial helium (He@C60) to the Earth during giant impact events". Data on the detection of fullerenes in impact deposits from the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary was discussed and it was suggested that fullerenes can be used as a tracer of the delivery of exogenous organic compounds to the Earth over geologic time. The implications concerning the importance of fullerenes in delivering volatiles to the Earth's crustal reservoir were also considered.

The final paper of the session, "Organic compounds in the K/T boundary sediments at Kawaruppu, Japan and their comparison with those in the carbonaceous chondrites" was presented by Mita Hykaru of the University of Tsukuba, Japan. A suite of organic compounds (amino acids, dicarboxcylic acids and aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons) where shown to be present in K/T boundary sediments from Kawaruppu. There is no indication of of extraterrestrial organic compounds such as the amino acids a-aminoisobutyric acid or isovaline. It was suggested, based on the distribution of the various organics detected, that there no compounds in this K/T boundary sequence derived from extraterrestrial sources.

The standard of the presentations was high and reflected the enthusiasm and interest which exists in this area of research. Due to a large and interactive audience , the discussions following the oral presentations were lively. Because of the widespread interest in the topic of extraterrestrial organics and their role in the origin of life, a similar session will hopefully be held during the 10th ISSOL in Oaxaca, Mexico in 2002.

Jeffrey L. Bada (UCSD, La Jolla, USA) & Luann Becker (Hawaii, USA)

Gustav Arrhenius (Chair) & Bill Schopf (Co-Chair)

Professor J.P. Ferris described experiments carried out together with J.C. Joseph and D.W. Clarke, using a specially designed flow reactor to model photochemical reactions of minor organic components, characteristic of Titan's nitrogen atmosphere. These atmospheric trace components, in mixing ratios comparable to those on Titan, included H2, CH4, C2H2, C2H4, and HC3N. Prof. Ferris outlined the several advantages of the photochemical flow reactor over static systems, and also the reaction products and the techniques used to analyze them. One of the purposes of the study was to simulate the formation of the haze on Titan by photolyzing the mixing ratios of the major and minor gases present in its atmosphere. Wall effects are minimized in the flow system so the polymer produced was formed under conditions prese nt in the atmosphere of Titan. The polymer was characterized by its IR and UV-visible spectrum. It's UV-visible spectrum was shown to match that observed for Titan haze.

Professor J.C. Guillemin described photochemical reactions of alkenes and alkanes with PH3, NH3 and H2S in experiments intended to simulate processes in the Jovian and Saturnian atmospheres. It was found that reactions of these heterocompounds with ethane produced the corresponding heteroalkanes but with different reaction mechanisms inferred in each case. Methane and ethane were chosen as alkane reatants; photochemical reactions of these with the heterocompounds gave the corresponding amines, phosphines and thiols. Since all of the reactants in question have been observed or inferred in the Jovian and Saturnian atmosphere, it was suggested that the experimentally obtained heterocompounds and further reaction products are likely to be components of the atmospheres of the giant planets.

Dr. Wdowiak presented work together with D.G. Agresti on the instrumentation being developed for remote Martian exploration as part of NASA's Exobiology and Planetary Instrument Definition and Development Programs. The instruments include Mössbauer and Raman spectrometers, designed for the purpose of identifying sedimentary minerals potentially associated with ancient life on Mars, including carbonaceous residues of microorganisms. The speaker showed results obtained with these techniques on terrestrial simulation materials, including evaporite minerals, hydrothermal precipitates, fossil kerogen and impact breccia. The constraints were also discussed for interrogation of the recorded data foreseen for the Athena Mars missions.

Manfred Schidlowski, the pioneer in exploration of biogenic carbon in the earliest Archean, gave a review of the enzymatic mechanisms causing the unique fractionation of the light carbon isotope 12C in autotrophic organisms, the manifestation of this effect in their carbonaceous remains in sedimentary rocks, and the trends toward re-equilibration with inorganic carbon containing fluids and carbonate during metamorphism. The speaker drew particular attention to the fact that such partial equilibration always has been found, as expected, to push up the d13C values of organic carbon towards more positive values. On the other hand, no metamorphic process has been observed in nature to affect inorganic carbon to generate graphite with an isotopic signature simulating a biogenic product. The metamorphically least altered chemofossils with d13C in the range -25 to -50 per mil in the oldest Archean metasediment are found to be encased in recrystallized minerals that presumably provide protection against exchange with carbonic fluids of inorganic origin. However, already the bulk-rock carbon isotope composition with d13C minima in the range of -22 to -28 per mil measured in 1979 in the 3.75 Ga Isua banded iron formation left no doubt about its biogenic origin.

Frances Westall and her colleagues reported discovery of small (mm- to cm-sized), graphite-containing, stromatolite-like structures in uppermost strata of the ~3.4-Ga-old Hooggenoeg Formation (Onverwacht Group, Swaziland Supergroup) of South Africa. Although devoid of identifiable cellular remnants, the macroscopic structures ("microbialites") and the graphitic carbonaceous matter they contain are interpreted as microbial in origin.

E. Imre Friedmann and colleagues described experiments showing incorporation of 14C-labeled acetate into the lipid components of large numbers of diverse (but taxonomically unidentified) prokaryotes, isolated from Siberian permafrost incubated at temperatures as low as -20oC. By establishing the capability of microbes to grow at this low temperature, these studies suggest that Martian permafrost at similar temperatures may provide a suitable habitat for life.

In a stimulating presentation, Robert Shapiro discussed the difficulties involved in the prebiotic assembly of various types of replicator homopolymers (such as RNA, DNA, proteins, and peptide nucleic acids) from abiotic mixtures containing diverse suites of monomers. In his view, these difficulities may suggest that "life began as a metabolic network of reactions involving monomers, and that a [homopolymeric] replicator came later."

Gustav Arrhenius (UCSD, La Jolla, USA) & Bill Schopf (UCLA, USA)

Graham Cairns-Smith (Chair) & Y. Yamagata (Co-Chair)

Most of us would agree that to "get clever" without a human designer a system has to be able to evolve through natural selection, and that the origin of life is, in effect, the origin of that kind of process. But to be able to evolve it is necessary to pass information on to offspring, and the easiest way to do that would seem to be through some kind of replicator structure. Those with their eyes on how "life as we know it" arose will start thinking first about nucleic acids, or perhaps other current biochemical components. Those who are thinking about life in general – alien or artificial, or perhaps our very remotest ancestors on Earth – may be more interested in the general chemical requirements for any kind of replicating structure that might form the basis of an actual chemical system able to evolve before our very eyes.

Both of these points of view were represented in the splendid Wednesday morning session. It opened with Guenter von Kiedrowski (Germany) asking the question: How about SPREAD? This is a procedure he has been using with DNA analogues to tackle a general problem that has been found for "minimal replicators" of different chemistries. The problem is product inhibition. After monomers (or oligomers ) have locked onto a template strand and then duly joined up make a new complementary strand, the resulting duplex will then be especially disinclined to separate. Surface-Promoted Replication and Exponential Amplification of DNA analogues (SPREAD) is a way round this. You immobilise the original template strand on a solid support first, and then proceed in stages, changing the solutions to encourage successively annealing, ligation, and then finally separation, the new strands being simply eluted and re-attached elsewhere to repeat the now amplified process.

Erik Schultes, Peter Unrau and Wendy Johnston were co-authors with David Bartel (USA), who delivered the second of the invited lectures. This was about Replication, with that holy grail of the RNA world – an RNA polymerase made of RNA – as one of the objects of desire. But it was also very much about the other half of this session’s title, Catalysis, about a more general exploration of RNA space. They have found not only an RNA catalyst (ribozyme) for making short segments of RNA, but another one that could help synthesise RNA nucleotides. That it is possible to stumble on such functionally diverse RNA catalysts starting from random sequences, and that the same RNA structural motifs can arise from very different sequences, inspires a vision of deep RNA space containing vast webs of functionally equivalent structures. These are "neutral networks" allowing an easy evolutionary drift among structurally very different, but functionally equivalent, molecules. And then, in this vision, the nets occasionally intersect so that one ribozyme can evolve into another perhaps altogether different one.

In the third of the invited lectures Reza Ghadiri (USA) discussed the question of what distinguishes living things, emphasising "non-linear molecular information transfer processes". He then described to us his novel experimental replicator models based not on hydrogen bonded base pairing as in the nucleic acids, but on hydrophobic interactions between side chains of fairly short alpha-helical peptides. These systems provided the basis for a general discussion of how self organised autocatalytic networks could have appeared and evolved some of the basic characteristics of living systems.

Victoria C. Allen, Raphael M. Bennes, and Andrew Sinclair were co-authors of the next presentation given by Douglas Philp (UK). This piece was very much a widening of our horizons towards a more general understanding of the chemistry of replication. There are more things in chemistry than are dreamed of in biochemistry, and here was one of them. We were shown a pairing system using hydrogen bonds, but not at all the usual ones. And then a ligation via cycloaddition not condensation. And then, furthest off of all, purely diastereosomeric "information" based on chiral centres created during the cycloaddition. Like all artificial replicators that have yet been demonstrated, this one is still very minimal. But the efficiency with which one of two diastereoisomers can catalyse specifically its own further formation is impressive.

Panagiotis K. Politis, Stefan Pitsch, Bart De Bouvere, Roger Busson, Arthur Van Aerschot, Piet Herdewijn & Leslie E. Orgel (USA, Switzerland & Belgium) were the co-authors of the next piece presented by Igor A. Kozlov (USA). HNA, a novel nucleic acid using a hexitol as the "sugar", was used as well as RNA and DNA as a new kind of template in a study of non-enzymatic template directed RNA and DNA synthesis. In the cases studied, HNA was shown to be more efficient than either RNA or DNA in transferring information to the daughter strand. It was also much less prone to enantiomeric cross-inhibition.

Jack Szostak was co-author of the next piece presented by Kourosh Salehi-Ashtiani (USA). This was the first of two items returning to that "holy grail" of the RNA world referred to above. The strategy adopted here was to select first for ribozymes with template directed DNA polymerase activity and then, having established that function, to start selecting for the more tricky RNA dependent RNA polymerase activity as well as other related functions.

For the final contribution, we went from one famous laboratory in the east of the USA, where molecules evolve in vitro, to another in the west. Gerald Joyce was the co-author of the paper presented by Kathleen McGinness on in vitro evolution of ligase ribozymes – again in pursuit of an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. They have been using an indirect method of replicating RNA, via reverse transcribed DNA, which allows a continuous "hands off" operation. In this way ribozymes have been evolved (or rather evolved themselves) that are able to catalyse at least three successive phosphoester transfer reactions.

Graham Cairns-Smith (University of Glasgow, UK) & Yukio Yamagata (Ishikawa, Japan)

Leslie Orgel (Chair) & David Deamer (Co-Chair)

Sowerby et al. reported observations in which scanning tunneling electron microscopy (STM) was used to investigate molecular self-assembly of purine and pyrimidine bases on mineral surfaces. STM was able to resolve monomolecular layers of bases, thereby providing a direct demonstration that such adsorption occurs. Their results also suggest mechanisms by which organic compounds adsorbed to natural mineral surfaces such as clay would be able to act as templates for further molecular assembly processes.

Otroshchenko et al. reported the very surprising finding that non-activated nucleotides oligomerize on polynucleotide templates adsorbed on mineral surfaces. Poly A adsorbed on a clay mineral surface, for example, catalyzes the synthesis of oligouridylates up to U5 from the sodium salt of uridylic acid.

Gao and Orgel described a method of crosslinking a preformed oligonucleotide to a mononucleotide analogue in such a way as to generate an adduct with the same geometry as a base pair.

Sawai and coworkers described a number of template-directed ligation reactions involving 2'-5'-linked templates and substrates. They found, for example, that the 2'-5'-linked U10 is a more efficient template than 3'-5'-linked U10 for the oligomerization of 2'-5'-linked pApA.

Nelson and coworkers described potentially prebiotic syntheses of some of the components of PNA, namely ethylenediamine monoacetic acid and the pyrimidine-2-acetic acids corresponding to uracil and cytosine.

Zhao and Cao asked why alpha, rather than beta amino acids predominate in biological processes. They approached this question by comparing the ability of N-phospho-alpha-amino acids and N-phospho-beta- amino acids to polymerize and phosphorylate nucleosides. Only alpha amino acids were observed to form oligomers and nucleotides, suggesting that the chemical structure of alpha amino acids would have been favored in early selection during prebiotic chemical evolution.

Kritsky et al. investigated pterins as potential pigments and redox reactants in early forms of life. Pterins are plausible candidates for such a role because they can be produced by thermolysis of amino acids. Using such compounds, these investigators observed that the photoexcited state could accept electrons from a donor such as histidine, tyrosine and ethylene diamine derivatives. Pterins could also photocatalyze electron transfer from a donor such as EDTA to cytochrome c. These results suggest a role for pterins in early photobiological processes.

Leslie Orgel (Salk Inst., La Jolla, USA) & David Deamer (UCSC, Santa Cruz, USA)

Gerald F. Joyce (Chair) & Niles E. Lehman (Co-Chair)

This session explored two themes that are currently hot topics in the push to understand the catalytic capabilities and limitations of pre-cellular life. The first is the catalytic potential of nucleic acids, and the second is the possibility that, like nucleic acids, polypeptides can be made to undergo Darwinian evolution in vitro.

Peter Unrau (USA) opened the session by asking the question: can ribozymes make nucleosides? It is now well known that RNA can catalyze the chemical modification of macromolecules, but relatively little is known about how RNA can catalyze reactions involving small molecules, such as monosaccharides, purines, and pyrimidines. From a large pool of random-sequence RNAs, Unrau and co-workers attempted to select molecules that could catalyze the synthesis of uridine from phophoribosyl pyrophospate (pRpp) and uracil. Using an elegant technique involving the capture of reacted catalysts on mercury-containing polyacrylamide gels, which slow the mobility of thiol-containing compounds, they selected RNAs that could form a covalent linkage between pRpp attached to their 3´ end and a 4-thio-uracil substrate. They characterized a family of RNAs that catalyzed uridine synthesis at a rate more than a million-fold faster than the uncatalyzed rate of reaction.

Niles Lehman (USA) then described how alternate foldings of RNA could affect the evolutionary trajectories of polynucleotides. If a single genotype (primary nucleotide sequence) could be expressed as more than one phenotype (folded secondary and tertiary structures), then in vitro selection becomes a more complex phenomenon resulting from the lowered heritability of genetic information. Exploiting Wright and Joyce’s continuous evolution scheme with the Bartel-Szostak ligase ribozyme, Lehman provided evidence that RNA sequences could be selected not necessarily because they are catalytically superior, but because they have a higher probability of folding into active secondary structures following transcription. This was exemplified in the selection of a 152-nucleotide ligase ribozyme that retained activity when the concentration of magnesium ion in the reaction mixture was lowered to less than 10 mM.

Another factor that could affect the complexity of an RNA world is enzyme allostery. The ability to regulate reactions would become increasingly important as genetic systems evolved greater metabolic complexity. Michael Robertson (USA) showed the results of several in vitro selection experiments that resulted in allosteric ribozymes that required the presence of a small effector molecule in order to fold into a catalytically active conformation. By utilizing affinity columns, he and his co-workers isolated families of ligase ribozymes that depended on either ATP, FMN, or theophylline co-factors to enhance their catalytic rate by up to 1,600-fold compared to the rate in the absence of the effector. Strikingly, they also were able to isolate "double aptozymes" that can be regulated by two separate effectors, such as ATP and theophylline.

Can catalytic activity be generated from ribozymes containing fewer than four nucleotides? This question was answered with an emphatic yes by Jeff Rogers (USA) who selected ligases that contained the nucleotides A, G, and U, but not C. Employing a mutagenesis scheme that insured that C nucleotides would no longer be available, Rogers and co-workers evolved variants of the Bartel-Szostak ligase that not only were active with only three nucleotides, but appeared to form radically different secondary structures compared to the parent molecule, relying on only A-U and G-U base pairs. These experiments suggest that RNA evolution could have taken place in a less information-rich sequence landscape than was previously thought possible.

Shifting the spotlight onto a more diverse primordial living system, Tze-Fei Wong (Hong Kong) gave a strong description of the co-evolutionary hypothesis of the origin of the genetic code that he originally proposed in the 1970s. According to this model of code evolution, codons were bequeathed from ancestral to descendant amino acids in steps that parallel the biosynthetic pathways of amino acids in the cell. For example, although Cys and Trp are chemically dissimilar, they are both generated biosynthetically from Ser and thus both share codons in the UGN box. Drawing on biochemical evidence that the single discriminator base in tRNA plays an important role in Trp tRNA recognition by aminoacyl synthetases, Wong described how codons could be transferred from ancestral to descendant amino acids during the diversification of the genetic code.

But can oligopeptides undergo Darwinian evolution as we know nucleic acid sequences can? This issue was raised by Kazuo Harada (Japan) who described an elegant in vivo system to do exactly that. Harada and colleagues constructed a combinatorial peptide library in E. coli plasmids that could express short random peptides for which successful binding to a target nucleic acid (such as the rev response element from HIV) could be screened by a simple blue/white colony assay. They found it necessary to simplify their task by reducing the number of amino acids that could be encoded to 3—9, instead of the full set of 20, but nevertheless were able to select short oligopeptide sequences that could bind their targets with high affinity.

Finally, the last two speakers in the session described some exciting advances in the quest to perform polypeptide selections in vitro, a goal that would not only be invaluable to protein engineers, but would open up a new frontier in origins-of-life research. Naoto Nemoto (Japan) described how he and his colleagues made a key conceptual advance in this respect by developing an "in vitro virus" that successfully linked a polypetide’s phenotypic information, which the forces of selection could target, and its genotypic information, which must be present to allow evolution to occur. This coupling was made possible by the creation of fusion proteins in which a mRNA sequence is covalently linked to the polypetide that it uncodes by means of a puromycin-driven trap that operates during cell-free translation.

Rihe Liu (USA) detailed how he and his colleagues are utilizing a similar puromycin-dependent strategy to create random polypetide libraries so that in vitro evolution techniques can be employed to search for novel proteins. In the construction of these mRNA-polypeptide fusions, numerous problems must be overcome, such as the random generation of stop codons that prematurely terminate the polypeptides. Liu has been tackling another problem, that of low fusion efficiency. with earlier protocols less than one-quarter of all translations produced fused proteins. However, it was discovered that a post-translational freezing of the system greatly enhances fusion efficiency. It is now routine to generate libraries with 40—70% fused sequences that retain catalytic activity and are amenable to in vitro selections.

Gerald F. Joyce (Scripps R.I.., La Jolla, USA) & Niles E. Lehman (SUNY, Albany, USA)

Antonio Lazcano (Chair) & Russell Doolittle (Co-Chair)

What is the minimal set of charactertistics that a system must fulfill to be considered alive? The answer to this question has a direct bearing on the origin of life, and has led to several attempts to estimate the gene complement of a minimal free living system. Not surprisingly, some of these efforts have been superseded by the results of the ongoing genome sequencing projects, which have opened a new range of unsuspected possibilities to address this issue. However, as underlined by several of the invited and contributed papers presented in this session, this is more easily said than done.

As summarized by Karen E. Nelson (Institute for Genomic research, Rockville), analysis of the genome of Thermotoga maritima, a deeply diverging, slow evolving thermophilic bacterium, has shown that over 80 clustered genes are most similar to archaeal sequences. The high level of sequence- and gene-orderconservation between Thermotoga and deep-branching archaeal hyperthermophiles indicates that extensive lateral transfer has occurred between these two lineages, blurring the 16S-like rRNA-based phylogenies and suggesting that a single gene is not enough to describe in full the evolutionary relationships between all living beings.

Such extensive horizontal transfer, combined with other phenomena such as polyphyletic gene losses, clearly renders difficult the reconstruction of ancestral states and the description of the last common ancestor (LCA). This issue was discussed by Eugene V. Koonin (Natl. Center for Biotechnology Information, NIH, Bethesda USA), who reported the results of an extensive computer analysis of microbial genomes, which have allowed the characterization of approximately 100 families of orthologs, including of course those gene products involved in translation. These conserved sequences do not include the molecular machinery involved in DNA replication (e.g., DNA polymerases, primases, helicases, and others), which has been intepreted by Koonin and his co-workers as evidence that the LCA may have been endowed not with a DNA genome, but rather with a mixed system based on both RNA and DNA elements.

As noted by Russell Doolitlle (UCSD, La Jolla, USA), the ribosomal data indicate that although there was an early eukaryotic lineage, it is quite likley that the LCA goes back to a split between the Archaea and the Bacteria, both of which have made major contributions to the gene complement of nucleated cells. Such a split, which a few years ago was placed approximately two billion years ago on the basis of data sets in which the archaebacteria were poorly represented, has been recalculated by Doolittle and his collaborators. As underlined by Doolittle, inclusion of the Methanococcus jannaschii and other archaeal sequences has shown that the eubacteria and the archaebacteria probably had a common ancestor more than 3 billion years ago, and perhaps even between 3 and 4 billion years ago.

Clas Blomberg (Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden) discussed a different issue. By attempting to achieve general statements on the nature of feedback processes that may have been important for the stabilization of catalyzed self-replicating systems and template-based protein synthesis, on the based of mathematical models he argued that although the genetic code may have been the outcome of a frozen accident, it was probably stabilized by enzymes controlling the mechanism by which they had been formed.

A different approach was discussed by S. J. Freeland, R. D. Knight, L. D. Hurst and L. F. Landweber (Princeton University, USA), who in paper presented by the former discussed extensively the error minimization hypothesis of the origin of the code, according to which codon assigments are the evolutionary outcome of processes that help to minimize the impact of genetic errors.

The paper by F. Tekaia, B. Dujon (both of the Institut Pasteur, Paris) and A. Lazcano (UNAM, Mexico), on the other hand, went back to the issue of the LCA and was based on comparative genomics to characterize the most highly conserved genes coomon to all the completely sequenced cellular genomes now available. As argued by Lazcano, this approach, which is based on the identification of orthologs in the data bases, has shown the most highly conserved protein genes are those encoding products that synthesize, degrade, or interact in one way or another with RNA, as well as some involved in nucleotide biosynthesis. These results have been interpreted by Tekaia et al as evidence of an early evolutionary stage during which RNA played a more conspicuous role in biological processes.

The session ended with a paper by J. Bacher and A. D. Ellington (University of Texas at Austin, USA), which reported the result of 3,500

hours of laboratory selection cycles that allowed the replacement of tryptophan by 4-flurotryptophan (4fW), an unnatural amino acid, throughout the entire proteome of E. coli. As noted by Ellington, the number and identity of the mutations involved in the incorporation of 4fW demonstrate that at leats in some cases organisms can readily change some of their basic biochemistry. These results, which have a bearing on the design of astrobiological exploration strategies, show that in may be possible in the near future to alter not only the chemistry of proteins, but perhaps also the entire biochemistry of living beings.

Antonio Lazcano (UNAM, Mexico) & Russell Doolittle (UCSD, USA)

Gerda Horneck (Chair) & Donald L. DeVincenzi (Co-Chair)

The plenary session on Exobiology/Astrobiology which took place on July 16 morning was co-chaired by Gerda Horneck, DLR, Germany and Donald L. DeVincenzi, NASA, USA. In her introduction, G. Horneck pointed out that the field of exobiology/astrobiology has recently received increased attention. This is mainly caused by the interdisciplinary efforts to study the phenomenon of life and the processes that lead to its origin, evolution and distribution within a broader context, i.e. as an integral part of the evolution of the universe. This approach was reflected in the presentations which mainly dealt with the following aspects of exobiology/astrobiology: (i) formation of precursors of life in the interstellar medium and their possible preservation in the protosolar nebula; (ii) exchange of biological material between planets by natural processes, e.g. by meteorites, (iii) appropriate biosignatures in search for life on other planets; and (iv) possibility of life on Jupiter’s moon Europa. Mars as a potential abode for life was dealt with in a special Mars Session, following this session.

The session started with D.W. Koerner (University of Pennsylvania), who presented optical and near infrared images of protoplanetary environments around young stars taken from the Hubble Space Telescope. In these disks organic molecules are detected including CN, HCN and PAHs. He described a scenario, where at large radial distances (e.g. >50 AU) organic compounds in the accreting material may be preserved and may be delivered to the terrestrial planets region via organic-rich icy bodies. Most of these organic molecules are generated in the interstellar medium. P.Ehrenfreund (Leiden Observatory) presented recent observations from ISO on interstellar and cosmic dust particles which indicate that comets contain besides pristine interstellar material also admixtures of processed material. Supported by results from laboratory simulation experiments she reconstructed a scenario of the history of organic compounds from simple carbon bearing species to complex molecules and aromatic networks and finally to prebiotic chemical evolution on Earth.

C.P. McKay (NASA ARC) discussed mechanisms by which life may expand beyond its planet of origin, one of the key questions in Astrobiology. The efficacy of interplanetary delivery processes is demonstrated by the Martian meteorites found on Earth. The suggested time scales range from a few years up to several million years. McKay showed several examples of terrestrial microorganisms (e.g., in permafrost, in amber and in salts) as well as results from long-term space experiments that demonstrate the ability of dormant microorganisms to survive suchextended periods of time. Beyond the solar system, dust grains ejected by impact s may be the vehicle for spreading life from star to star. Finally, he pointed out that space technology provides the tool for spreading life in our own solar system. A more pessimistic view on this scenario of planetary exchange of living matter was presented by B.C. Clark (Lockheed Martin Aeronautics). He suggested that the ejection process and the radiation encountered in space may impose serious constraints on the chances of a successful transport of life between Venus-Earth-Mars, presently as well as in the early solar system.

K.H. Nealson (JPL, Pasadena) gave an insight into the diversity microbial life on Earth has developed since it appearance, about 4 billion years ago. He showed that almost all niches on Earth that have available energy and which are compatible with the chemistry of carbon-carbon bonds are known to be inhabited by microorganisms. Knowledge of the metabolic diversity of microbes and their strategies of adaptation to environmental extremes may provide clues to the understanding of the habitability of other planets, e.g., of Mars. Following this presentation, G.D. McDonald (JPL, Pasadena) showed the difficulties one faces when selecting the right biomarkers in search for extraterrestrial life. Whereas he doubted that terrestrial biochemistry may serve as an appropriate model for possible extraterrestrial life, he considered certain fundamental chemical functions as more promising biomarkers, such as oxidation and reduction processes facilitated by electron carriers, some form of compartmentalization, or some forms of cell-cell recognition. He emphasized that assessing the biodiversity in terrestrial extreme conditions might help to identify candidate extraterrestrial organic biomarkers.

Finally, J.D. Rummel (NASA HQ, Washington) presented recent data of Europa from Galileo and the perspectives of the presence of a liquid water ocean below the ice crust and herewith the likelihood of an indigenous biota of Europa. More insight into the question of a possible ocean on Europa is expected to be obtained from an orbiter mission to Europa the US is planning for 2003.

The session was well attended and each talk was followed by a vivid discussion.

Gerda Horneck (DLR, Koeln, Germany) & Donald L. DeVincenzi (NASA-Ames, Moffett Field, USA)

Glen McDonald (Chair) & Bruce Jakovsky (Co-Chair)

The final scientific session of ISSOL '99 dealt with the environment of Mars, analyses of Mars meteorites, and future exploration of the red planet. Michael Carr of the U.S. Geological Survey presented the first paper, reviewing the evidence for surface liquid water on Mars during the early history of the planet. His conclusion was that there is evidence from Viking and Mars Global Surveyor imaging for sustained flows of liquid water on the surface. The evidence for large standing bodies of water is much less compelling, however, and the ancient streams may have been fed by underground springs or ice meltwater.

David Paige of the University of California at Los Angeles then described the Mars Polar Lander mission, which will arrive at Mars in December 1999. The Mars Volatiles and Climate Surveyor (MVACS) instrument payload, for which Paige is the principal investigator, will examine the atmosphere and soil in the south polar layered terrain, including a search for water and carbon dioxide in the surface material.

The session then concluded with two papers reporting recent results from analyses of Martian meteorites. Everett Gibson of NAS A Johnson Space Center reviewed the original evidence presented by his group for biosignatures in ALH84001, and then described new possible biogenic signatures in Nakhla and Shergotty. These consist principally of structures observed by electron microscopy, which the Johnson Space Center group interprets as fossilized bacterial cells and biofilms.

Daniel Glavin of Scripps Institution of Oceanography then reported on recent amino acid analyses of Nakhla and of sediments from the Nile Delta, where the meteorite fell in 1911. The amino acid profiles of the meteorite and the Nile Delta sediments are very similar, leading Glavin and colleagues to conclude that the amino acids in Nakhla, and perhaps most of the organic material in the meteorite as well, are terrestrial contaminants rather than residue of Martian biology.

Glen McDonald (JPL, Pasadena, USA) & Bruce Jakovsky (Univ. Colorado, USA)

The Society honors its top members with the A.I. Oparin and H. C. Urey medaillons, awarded at alternate triennial ISSOL meetings.

The H. C. Urey medallion’99 has been given to Alan Schwartz (The Netherlands) for his sustained scientific research program in the field of the origin of life. Alan Schwartz is the second Urey medaillon recipient. The first was Leslie Orgel, announced in Barcelona in 1993.

The Society also honors - through " ISSOL Fellows " naming at triennial ISSOL meetings- those members whose accomplishments and/or contributions show " exceptional and sustained contribution to the understanding of the origin of life through scientific research, educational activities, or service to the Society or this scientific community. "

The ISSOL fellows named at ISSOL’99 were :

• André Brack (France)
• Graham Cairn-Smith (UK)
• Sherwood Chang (USA)
• Vitalii Goldanskii (Russia)

The next meeting will take place in Oaxaca , Mexico in July 2002. The chairman of the LOC, First Vice President A. Lazcano invite all participants to come to Mexico for the next ISSOL meeting. His plan is to include scientists from different countries of South America in the organization and so have a "Regional Organizing Committee.".

The Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington (CIW) in Washington, DC, is considering a new Research Staff appointment. We are seeking a highly qualified Ph.D. scientist committed to a career in innovative, original research, and who is dedicated to increasing our fundamental knowledge of the physics and chemistry related to the origin and early evolution of biology in the Solar System. Particular fields of interest include, but are not limited to geochemical processes on young planets including Earth, hydrothermal vent chemistry, the evolution of structure and complexity in organic geochemistry, the transition from complex organic geochemical processes to biochemical processes, the early evolution of biological organisms, and the determination of chemical biomarkers.

Research Staff are independent investigators at CIW. Position requirements, salaries and benefits are commensurate with faculty positions at major research universities. Salary and laboratory facilities, along with some research support, are provided by the Carnegie endowment. Research Staff are free to pursue their own chosen path in science, but are required to satisfy the Director and external peer review for continued support at the Laboratory. Research Staff are encouraged to seek Federal and private grant support if additional funds are required to support their research, such as for new equipment and post-doctoral associates. The Geophysical Laboratory also supports a lab-wide post-doctoral Fellowship program.

Applications should include a curriculum vitae, a publication list, names and addresses (including email) of at least three references, a summary of the applicant's research, and the program of research the applicant envisions carrying out at the Geophysical Laboratory. Send applications to:

Dr. Wesley T. Huntress, Jr.,
Director, Geophysical Laboratory
Carnegie Institution of Washington
5251 Broad Branch Road
Washington, DC 20015, USA
or by email with attachments to huntress@gl.ciw.edu .

Applications will be accepted and reviewed immediately until January 15, 2000. The Carnegie Institution of Washington is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer.

Local Organizing Committee Report October 1999

The 1999 meeting of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life (ISSOL) was held under the auspices of the NASA Specialized Center for Research and Training (NSCORT) in Exobiology on the campus of the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) in La Jolla, California from July 11 through July 16. A summary of recent meeting statistics is presented below.

Two hundred and forty-four presentations were scheduled and 220 were given; a number of participants were unable to attend due to fiscal, medical or other reasons. Parallel sessions were tried for the first time, to allow more participants to present their materials verbally. The down side was that many people were forced to choose between equally interesting presentations. The poster sessions were very well attended.

In another first, all information about the meeting, including lists of scheduled talks, was available on the web. We subsequently learned that presenting parallel sessions to the web was possible and relatively inexpensive (although the TV cameras would have been a bit intrusive), and would have solved the parallel session problem, as well as allowing some absentees to participate to some degree. We look forward to the future!

The social programs were well-attended and allowed for the usual large amount of interpersonal communications expected at ISSOL meetings. We are most appreciative that our major sponsor, NASA, and our home organizations, Scripps Oceanographic Institution, the Salk Institute and the Scripps Research Institute, allowed us to host this memorable event.

The next Cospar meeting will be held in Warsaw on July 16-23, 2000. It will include many sessions related to Origins of Life, Exo/Astrobiology.:

The deadline for receipt of abstract is on January 10., 2000, sent to

- Copernicus Gesellschaft
33rd COSPAR Scientific Assembly
Max-Planck-Strasse 13
37 191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany
Tel : 49 5556 91376
Fax: 49 5556 4709
E mail: cospar@copernicus.org

With copy to the Main Scientific Organizer of the corresponding COSPAR event

* All Cospar informations are available on the following Cospar Web site:

http://www.copernicus.org/COSPAR/COSPAR.html

Contact: COSPAR Secretariat, 51 bd de
Montmorency, 75016 Paris, France
Tel: +33 1 45 25 06 79
Fax: +33 1 40 50 98 27
COSPAR@paris7.jussieu.fr

http://www.copernicus.org/COSPAR/COSPAR.html

Scientific Program Chair: Prof. K. Stepien, Warsaw
University Observatory,
Warsaw, Poland

Local Organizing Com. Chair: Prof. J.B. Zielinski,
Space Research Center,
Warsaw, Poland

Abstract Deadline: 10 January 2000

Papers Published in: Advances in Space Research

33rd COSPAR Scientific Assembly and Associated Events - Scientific Program :

A0.1: New Global Satellite Observations of the Earth's Surface, Atmosphere and Ocean

A0.2: Calibration and Characterization of Satellite Sensors and Accuracy of Derived Physical Parameters

A0.3: Panel Discussion: The Concept of an Integrated Global Observing Strategy and its Benefits for Earth Science

A0.4: Improving the Assimilation of Spaceborne Observations for Atmospheric and Oceanic Modelling and Numerical Weather Prediction

A1.2: Remote Sensing of Trace Constituents in the Lower Stratosphere, Troposphere and the Earth's Surface: Global Observations, Air Pollution and the Atmospheric Correction

A1.3/C2.8: Contribution of Remote Sensing of the Upper Troposphere and Stratosphere to Understanding Climate Change

A2.1: Progress in Remote Sensing of Ocean Biological and Physical Processes

A3.1: Monitoring and Assessment of Biogeochemical Cycles

A3.2: Combined Interpretation of Multi-Sensor Data and Utility of Medium and Coarse Resolution Satellite Data for Land Surface Characterization

B0.1/PEDAS1: Space Debris

B0.2: Lunar Exploration 2000

B0.3: Near-Earth Objects and Impact Mitigation Techniques

B0.4/C3.5: Mars: Latest Results and International Program Status

B0.5/D3.6: Io: the Volcanic "Heart" of the Jovian System

B0.6/C3.4/D3.7/F3.0: Europa and Titan: Atmospheres, Oceans, Plasma Environments and Exobiology

B0.7: Cratering of Icy Surfaces

B1.1/D0.3: Exploration of Small Solar System Objects: Past, Present and Future

B1.2/D0.4: Modelling and Laboratory Studies Supporting Space Missions to Small Bodies

B2.1/PSD1: New Trends in Space Geodesy

C1.1: Multi-instrument Studies of the Thermosphere and Ionosphere Using Combinations of Space-based and Ground-based Techniques

C2.1: Ozone Variations of Solar Origin

C2.2: Changes in Greenhouse Gases

C2.3/A1.4: Middle Atmosphere Spatial Structures

C2.4: Spatial and Temporal Variations in Gravity Waves

C2.5: Aerosols, Dust and Layers in the Middle Atmosphere

C2.6: Lightning Middle Atmosphere Interaction

C2.7: Advances in Remote Sensing of the Middle and Upper Atmosphere and the Ionosphere

C3.1: Planetary Atmospheres

C3.2/D3.8: Planetary Ionospheres

C4.1/D3.9: Modelling the Topside Ionosphere and Plasmasphere

C4.2: CIRA Part III: Supplements: Additional Reference Atmospheres for Trace Constituents and Comparison with Latest Data

D0.1/E3.1: Comparative Reconnection Studies at the Sun and in Planetary Magnetospheres

D0.2: Alfvénic Structures: From the Sun to the Magnetosphere

D1.1: Galactic and Anomalous Cosmic Rays in the Heliosphere: the Cycle 22 Solar Minimum and the Onset of Cycle 23

D2.1/E3.2: Solar Composition: New Perspectives from In-situ and Remote Sensing Studies

D3.1/C3.3: Planetary Magnetospheres

D3.2: Advances in Auroral Physics

D3.3: Advances in Global Magnetospheric Structure, Dynamics, and Region Coupling

D3.4: Validation of Magnetospheric Models

D3.5: Multiscale Structure of the Dynamic Processes in the Critical Magnetospheric Regions

D4.1/B1.3: Dusty Plasmas and Active Experiments

E1.1: New Vistas from X-ray Observatories

E1.2/H0.3: X-ray and Gamma-ray Signatures of Black Holes and Weakly Magnetized Neutron Stars

E1.3: Origin and Acceleration of Cosmic Rays

E1.4: New Results in Far IR and Sub-mm Astronomy

E1.5/H0.2: The Copernican Principle and Homogeneity of the Universe

E1.6: Small Satellites for Astrophysical Research

E2.1/D2.3: Heating and Energetics of the Solar Corona and Solar Wind

E2.2/D2.2: Structure, Energetics and Dynamics of the Corona and the Heliosphere during the Rising Phase of the 23rd Solar Cycle

E2.3: Solar Variability from Helioseismology and Irradiance Observations

E2.4: Current and Future High Resolution In-situ and Remote Sensing Solar Physics Missions

F0.1: Life Science Issues in Connection with Human Missions to Mars

F1.1: Gravity Perception and Transduction in Plants, Fungi and Unicellular Organisms

F1.2: Gravity-related Research with Animals - Past, Present, Future

F1.3/F2.3: The Nervous System: Space Flight Environmental Factors Effects - Present Results and New Perspectives

F1.4: Planetary Environments and Living Organisms

F2.1: Physical and Biological Basis of Radiation Risk Assessment

F2.2: Investigating Space Radiation Effects at Particle Accelerators - Biology and Physics Experiments

F2.4: Genetic and Oncogenic Damages of Space Radiation: Detection, Prediction and Mechanisms

F2.5: Comparison & Analysis of Recently Obtained Space & Ground-based Results by Means of Space Radiation Instruments

F2.6: Perspectives on Radiation Risks on Long Space Missions: Deterministic and Stochastic Effects

F3.1: The Influence of UV Radiation on Biological Evolution

F3.2/F3.3: The Limits of Life

F3.4-1/B0.8: Extraterrestrial Organic Chemistry: From the Interstellar Medium to the Origins of Life - Part 1: Interstellar Medium, Comets, and Meteorites

F3.4-2/B0.8: Extraterrestrial Organic Chemistry: From the Interstellar Medium to the Origins of Life - Part 2: Complex Organic Chemistry in the Environment of Planets and Satellites

F3.4-3: Extraterrestrial Organic Chemistry: From the ISM to the Origins of Life - Part 3: Homochirality: Handedness of Organics in the Universe

F3.5: Planetary Protection: Policy and Implementation for the 21st Century

F4.1: Plant Production Systems for Life Support

F4.2: Food and Waste Processing for Advanced Life Support

F4.3: Analysis and Integration of Life Support Systems

F4.4: Closed Ecosystems: Space and Earth Applications

F4.5: Influence of Different Natural Physical Fields on Biological Processes

G0.1: The Impact of the Gravity Level on Materials Processing and Fluid Dynamics

H0.1: Fundamental Physics in Space

PSB1: Scientific Ballooning in the Next Century: Goals and Challenges

PSRB1: Radiation Belt Models for the Solar Maximum

PSRDC1: Integrated Global Observation System (IGOS) - Role and Benefits to the Developing Countries

PSW1/C0.1/D0.5/E2.5/F2.0: Space Weather

Special Symposium: The Public Understanding of Space Science

Dear colleagues, We are organizing a special symposium on "Geochemistry and the Origin of Life" at the Spring, 2000 American Chemical Society National Meeting in San Francisco, CA, March 26-30, 2000. This will be the first ACS meeting of the new millenium, and we believe that a symposium dealing with the questions of life's origins is particularly appropriate for this very special meeting.

We hope that you and your colleagues will consider attending this symposium. Abstracts may be submitted on-line by October 31, 1999 through www.acs.org, or hard copies on ACS forms may be submitted to one of us by October 15, 1999.

Thank you sincerely,

a symposium to be held at

PACIFICHEM 2000

The International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies

December 14-19, 2000

Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A.

A symposium titled "Astrobiochemistry and Origins of Life" will be held at the 2000 International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies in Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. on December 14-19, 2000. Three half-day oral sessions are planned along with poster sessions.

The Symposium will be organized around the following broad subject area: "Astrobiology" is a new interdisciplinary field of research aimed at understanding the origin, evolution, and destiny of life in the universe. In attempting to elucidate the origin of life in this broad context, understanding the formation, survival, and prebiotic potential of organic compounds in solar system bodies like the early earth, Mars, Europa, asteroids, meteorites, and comets, as well as extrasolar environments such as interstellar clouds is essential, and laboratory analyses and simulations, astronomical observations, and remote analyses all contribute to this understanding.

Recent geochemical research on submarine hydrothermal vents and traces of life in Precambrian rocks have provided new insights to the origin of terrestrial life. Recent results in these and related areas areas will be presented.

If you are interested in participating in the symposium, please contact one of the co-organizers listed below.

A Session on Exo/Astrobiology in Germany will be held on March 22, 2000 in Bremen during the Annual Meeting of the Working Group on Extraterrestrial Research e.V. and the Spring Meeting of the German Physical Society

The aim is to discuss the foundation of a German Group on Exobiology within a European Exobiology Network.

For more information visit the Web page : http : //www.iup.physik.uni-bremen.de/dpg2000/

or contact Gerda Horneck

e-mail : gerda.horneck@dlr.de

MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT

IGPP Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life.
Eleventh Annual CSEOL Symposium
GOLD MEDAL SYMPOSIUM ON THE ORIGIN OF LIFE
Friday, April 7, 2000
Schoenberg Auditorium, University of California, Los Angeles

9:00am: J. William Schopf (CSEOL, UCLA)
WELCOME

9:10am: John Ors (Barcelona, Spain)
Preface: HISTORICAL UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE'S BEGINNINGS

9:50am: Discussion

10:00am: Alan W. Schwartz (Nijmegen, The Netherlands)
Setting The Stage: FROM THE BIG BANG TO THE PRIMORDIAL PLANET

10:40am: Discussion

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------
10:50 am: COFFEE BREAK
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------

11:10am: Stanley L. Miller (University of California, San Diego)
Act One: FORMATION OF THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF LIFE

11:50am: Discussion

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------
12:00 noon: LUNCHEON BREAK
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------

1:30pm: James P. Ferris (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
Act Two: FROM BUILDING BLOCKS TO THE POLYMERS OF LIFE

2:10pm: Discussion

2:20pm: Leslie E. Orgel (Salk Institute for >Biological Studies)
Act Three: THE ORIGIN OF INFORMATION-CONTAINING LIVING CELLS

3:00pm: Discussion

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------
3:10pm: COFFEE BREAK
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------

3:30pm: J. William Schopf (University of California, Los Angeles)
Denouement: WHEN DID LIFE BEGIN?

4:10pm: Discussion

4:20pm: David Eisenberg, Moderator (University of California, Los Angeles)
PANEL DISCUSSION ON THE ORIGIN OF LIFE

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------
5:00pm: CONCLUSION OF SYMPOSIUM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------

FIRST NOTICE

FIRST ANNUAL ASTROBIOLOGY SCIENCE CONFERENCE

NASA will host an international conference on astrobiology science to be held this spring at NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California, on April 3-5, 2000. The focus of the meeting is on scientific results that illustrate the broad multidisciplionary nature of astrobiology. As such, this conference will complement other, more narrowly focused meetings that deal primarily with one or two subdisciplines of astrobiology. We hope that this conference will become an annual event and will help to develop a growing constituency for astrobiology within the international scientific community. Abstracts of contributed papers for the conference will be due on February 1, 2000. We are in the process of finalizing the Scientific Organizing Committee, and we will shortly provide more details concerning the program and meeting logistics.

Baruch Blumberg, Director, NASA Astrobiology Institute
Bruce Jakosky, U. Colorado, Chair, Scientific Organizing Committee
David Morrison, Director of Astrobiology & Space Research, NASA Ames
Lynn Rothschild, NASA Ames, Chair, Local Organizing Committee

David Morrison, NASA Ames Research Center
Tel 650 604 5094; Fax 650 604 1165
david.morrison@arc.nasa.gov or dmorrison@mail.arc.nasa.gov
website: http://space.arc.nasa.gov
website: http://astrobiology.arc.nasa.gov
website: http://impact.arc.nasa.gov


-----------------------------------------------------------


FIRST NOTICE

Preliminary announcement for an international conference to be held in the Chbteau of Blois, in France's Loire Valley.

"Frontiers of Life"

25th June - 1st July 2000

also see web page: http://wwwusr.obspm.fr/confs/blois2000.html

Programme committee:

A. Brack,
L. Celnikier,
J. Chela-Flores,
P. Danos,
M. Dosanjh,
P. Forterre,
T. Hwa,
C. Jones,
C. McKay,
F. Raulin,
T. Owen,
R. Navarro-Gonzales,
W. Schopf,
P. Sonigo,
J. Tran Thanh Van,
C. White.

ISSOL (proposed)
COSPAR (proposed)
ESA (proposed)
CNES (proposed)
ASI (proposed)
DLR (proposed)

I. Space Week at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

The NSCORT was an active participant in Space Week, an event celebrating the 175th anniversary of the founding of RPI. In addition, this event also commemorated the fortieth anniversary of the founding of NASA in 1958 and the thirtieth anniversary of the first successful human to walk on the Moon in 1969. The Space Week program celebrated the active contribution of RPI to the engineering and science of the US space program over the past 40 years.

One part of the Space Week program was a "Space Museum" which consisted of a display of space science and technology projects that filled the ice hockey rink of the RPI Field House. The New York NSCORT prepared a 13 x 4 foot poster for the Museum in which the research, outreach and the participants in the NSCORT were featured. In addition, we displayed samples of meteorites, minerals and moon rocks. The moon rocks were of special interest to the bus loads of secondary school children that came to the Museum since they could view them both with and without the aid of a microscope. The PIs put considerable effort into the preparation of materials that would be of interest and understandable to the general public.

Other displays of interest include memorabilia from George Low, an RPI graduate, who took over the Apollo program after the death of three astronauts due to a fire in a lunar module, and directed the program to a successful landing of astronauts on the moon. When Low left NASA he came to RPI as President and during his tenure the Institute underwent a period of strong growth in both the teaching and research programs. Other displays included those from science and engineering groups at RPI and those from JPL, Boeing Martin-Marietta and many others.

A host of distinguished guests participated in Space Week. Of particular interest to the NSCORT was the visit by Dan Goldin, the NASA Administrator. The NSCORT group was given time with Mr. Goldin to describe the scope of our research programs to him and to also have him meet some of our excellent participants. Research presentations were given by Genevieve Henderson, an undergraduate who discussed organics on asteroids, Nicolle Zellner, a graduate student who talked about impacts and the extinction of life, and Alexey Vepritskiy, a postdoctoral who presented his research on subsurface microorganisms. Mr. Goldin congratulated the speakers enthusiastically for the high quality of their presentations. I had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Goldin at lunch and at the final session of the day. He commented again about the excellent student presentations dujring that final session.

Buzz Aldrin and Hans Mark were among the many other special speakers. In addition to the speakers, cosmonauts and astronauts were in the Museum talking with the visitors that came to see the Space Week displays and presentations. The attendance for the week was estimated to be about 20,000 including 4,500 secondary school students from the Capital District region of upstate New York.

II. Seminars, Videos and Public Radio Broadcasts

A weekly seminar program had a central role in the NSCORT activities for fall and spring semesters. It was attended by all the NSCORT participants as well as the students attending the course, "Origin of Life: A Cosmic Perspective" taught by Doug Whittet. The speakers for the spring semester included Sandra Nierzwicki-Bauer RPI and NSCORT PI, David Ward, Montana State University, James Napolitano, RPI, John Jones, JSC, Graham Ryder, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Deane Peterson, SUNY Stony Brook, George Flynn, SUNY Plattsburgh, Leslie Orgel, The Salk Institute and William Irvine, University of Massachusetts. Each seminar was videotaped and after editing will be available in either cassette tape or in a format that can be downloaded from our Web page. These will be available to educational institutions who may want to use them in a course or for other educational purposes.

In addition, each of the seminar speakers was interviewed by Peter A. A. Berle, the moderator of "The Environment Show", a public radio program that is produced and broadcast by the Public Radio Station, WAMC. The Environment Show is also broadcast by over 200 NPR stations nationwide as well as on the Armed Forces radio around the world. A 5-10 minute segment obtained from an interview with a seminar speaker is broadcast every other week on "The Environment Show". These interviews can also be heard on our Web site as they become available. Our Web site is at http://www.rpi.edu/dept/phys/Astro/origin.html

III. Public Lectures

The NSCORT was full or partial sponsor of two public lectures this Spring. We were the sole sponsor of J. W. Schopf's lecture "The Discovery of the Earth's Earliest Fossils: the Solution to Darwin's Dilemma" at RPI. Bill gave an excellent talk that was enthusiastically received by the 70 attendees. I talked with a many of the those who attended the lecture from the Capital District Region and all felt that Bill gave a very understandable lecture in his characteristic enthusiastic style.

We provided part of the support for a public lecture for Lynn Margulis that was presented at the SUNY at Albany on "Gaia: Our Living Earth From Space". It was also sponsored by local Sigma Xi Chapter and the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany. Approximately 200 attendees heard Lynn's presentation which featured action videos of the protists that she was discussing in her lecture. Both Drs. Schopf and Margulis were interviewed for a WAMC broadcast and there will be a video available from Bill Schopf's lecture. These interviews were broadcast on public radio and are on our web site.

IV. ISSOL '99

All the faculty participants in the NY NSCORT presented posters and/or lectures at the San Diego meeting. They are Doug Whittet, Wayne Roberge, John Delano, Michael Gaffey, Bill Hagan, Sandra Nierzwicki-Bauer and me. If you would like to know more about our research, outreach and education programs see our web page and contact us directly by email.

Jim Ferris (RPI, Troy, USA)

Effective January 1, 2000, the Editor of the official Journal of ISSOL, Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere, will be Alan Schwartz (The Netherlands).

The Society through its ISSOL Newsletter warmly welcomes the new Edoitor of his Journal !