Functional Interfaces

Understanding the origin of life on early Earth under geologically plausible conditions remains one of the greatest multidisciplinary challenges in the fields of chemistry, physics, biology, geology and astronomy. Ultraviolet (UV) solar radiation is a fundamental source of energy on the Earth's surface that has been suggested to have contributed to the origin of life but is not yet systematically understood.

Our vision is to elucidate the role of light in the origin of life in the universe through a novel photochemical perspective. We aim to unravel the origin of biological functionality and the synthesis of the building blocks of life, such as nucleotides, amino acids and lipids, using UV light as the driving energy source. Technologically, we combine ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy with prebiotic photochemistry to open up new reaction pathways and to study the underlying molecular mechanisms. Our perspective is thus to elucidate new biomolecular functions that will bring us closer to answering questions about the origins of life in the universe, support modern biomedicine and contribute to the creation of synthetic cells.

Read more about the establishment of the new junior research group at Leibniz IPHT.

Dr. Corinna L. Kufner

+49 (0) 3641 206 326
corinna.kufner@leibniz-ipht.de