‘Our goal is very clear,’ says Albert Wong, Associate Professor at the UT’s Department of Molecules and Materials. ‘To understand the origin of life.’
A question that, until this day, remains answered because, as Wong explains, it cannot be tested. ‘As a scientist, you’d want to validate your hypothesis, but you cannot test your assumptions for the origin of life. We don’t know the conditions under which it happened, we don’t know where and when it happened or what the first lifeform looked like.’
Is it then even possible to find the definite answer to the origin of life? ‘No, it is something that cannot be conclusively proven,’ clarifies the researcher. ‘We cannot give one ultimate answer, but we can provide probable scenarios.’
Cell, metabolism or DNA?
If you’d ask a chemist such as Albert Wong, however, they’d tell you there are three main theories of how life came to existence. ‘One says that life had to start with a metabolism, one says that the first lifeform had to be a cell-like compartment and the last one claims it all started with information-containing molecules, such as DNA, that could replicate.’
‘Again, this is an answer from the perspective of a chemist,’ stresses Wong. ‘A physicist or an astronomer would give a completely different answer. From their point of view, life might have started on the moon or on the ocean floor. That’s why it’s important to have a research consortium with so many different researchers and disciplines.’
The consortium, named ‘PRELIFE – Pathways, Reactions, and Environments’, comprises scientists from sixteen universities and research institutes across the Netherlands, including the UT. The project, funded by the National Science Agenda (NWA), has only just begun and will last seven years.
PRELIFE
PRELIFE is an interdisciplinary research consortium led by Professor Inge Loes ten Kate (Utrecht University) which has been awarded an NWA grant by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) for investigating the origin of life on Earth and in the universe. It consists of scientists from sixteen universities and research institutes across the Netherlands, along with experts in science communication and education.
The full list of involved scientists and institutes can be found here.
‘After seven years, we will not have the definite answer, but we will assemble pieces of the puzzle,’ says Wong. ‘Another goal of the consortium is to train the new generation of scientists, because we all know that there will still be many unanswered questions once the project is finished.’
Chemistry and math
The UT scientist is bringing his own unique expertise to the picture. As a chemist with a background in mathematics, he will combine the two disciplines to create a mathematical model that explains why chemical reactions come together to form a network – and sustain life.
‘Chemistry is the primary discipline for finding the origin of life’ - Albert Wong
‘Studying the origin of life is new for my group, - Chemical Reactions Networks - but it is not new for me,’ says Wong. ‘I have worked on this topic before, when I was involved in the Harvard Origins of Life Initiative and the Simons Collaboration on the Origins of Life as a postdoctoral researcher. I was well aware of this problem and I’m very happy to continue my search in PRELIFE.’
‘Moreover, if you ask me, the origin of life is a chemical problem,’ he adds. ‘It all started with molecules, and so the answer lies in chemistry. Chemistry is the primary discipline for finding the origin of life.’
In his own words, Wong is fascinated by the idea that networks of chemical reactions operate in harmony to govern a living system. As part of his research, he builds chemical reactions networks, meaning reactions that come together to create bigger and bigger reactions.
‘I look at how cells work and why they need so many reactions happening at the same time. Scientists have discovered many key reactions that are necessary to create life but having them work under the same conditions is very hard. Creation of life needs a set of reactions working synchronously.’
Model for the right conditions
To find under which conditions the set of reactions can create life, Wong and his colleague Rick Quax will develop a so-called hypergraph model. The model will take existing chemical reactions networks and find patterns. This way, it will be able to predict the most plausible chemical reactions that may emerge under prebiotic conditions – and allow the scientists to test them.
In simple words, the hypergraph model can be used as a guidance for experiments to find the origin of life. ‘In the past, I searched for the origin of life the other way around,’ says Wong. ‘I would first do experiments in the lab. Now I will first develop a model and use it to do experiments. This will limit the experiments only to the most plausible scenarios.’
Wong is confident that the model will serve as one of the building blocks for finding the origin of life on Earth. ‘I think PRELIFE will be able to deliver a plausible scenario for the origin of life. Seven years is not sufficient to find all the answers, but we will have the foundation, such as our model.’
The research can also have other unforeseen consequences, believes Wong. ‘Yes, this research is purely about science and delivering knowledge. It’s one of the greatest puzzles that all scientists want to solve. But there can be unexpected turns of events in science. When I studied the origin of life at Harvard, I stumbled upon other findings and could file for two patents. Even fundamental research into the origin of life can lead to applied science.’
