"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards"
Søren Kierkegaard
Welcome! We are interested in the biology of early Earth and how understanding life’s emergence and early mechanisms may assist finding life beyond Earth. Our integrative approach enables the study of biomolecule-scale macroevolutionary trends that span billions of years of history and is a fundamentally new methodology with which to study the origins and early evolution of life.
We are moving to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Bacteriology!
Read PI Kacar's first interview at the UW-Madison CALS!
NASA selects our project "What life wants: Exploring the Natural Selection of Elements" as one of the Interdisciplinary Consortia for Astrobiology Research (ICAR). Visit the new >> NASA MUSE.
Dr. Zach Adam receives one of the John Templeton Foundation Ideas Challenge awards with his proposed concept of Subsumed Complexity. Read more about his idea: Subsumed Complexity.
Latest viewpoint article (2020): Evolutionary History of Bioessential Elements Can Guide the Search for Life in the Universe (ChemBioChem)
Latest research article (2020): Evolutionary stalling and a limit on the power of natural selection to improve a cellular module (PNAS)
Research article (2020): Reconstructed ancient nitrogenases suggest Mo-specific ancestry. (Geobiology)
Dr. Mati Kadzior shares his research with the Finland-based Ferment Radio podcast: Microbial time traveling in the laboratory
Master's student Cathryn Sephus wins the best poster award by the GSA Geobiology and Geomicrobiology Division. Her poster is titled: "Shedding light on phototrophic pigment evolution: reconstruction of ancestral rhodopsins".
Graduate student Katie McGrath wins the NASA Astrobiology Collaboration Award with her proposal titled: Exploring the evolution of bacterial translation machinery. Read More >>>
John Templeton Foundation Researcher Profile: Q&A: Five Questions with Betül Kaçar
Brooke Carruthers explores the potential of space sciences education for developing critical thinking and inspiring students Read More >>>
Betul Kacar joins the UN Women Generation Equality Campaign Read More >>>
Highlights