Origins Chalk Talk -A Statistical Mechanical Description of Nonenzymatic Replication- Albert Fahrenbach (MGH - Szostak Lab)

Abstract- I will attempt to give an overview of some basic principles involved in nonenzymatic (RNA) replication using the language of statistical mechanics.  I will give a mathematical definition of fidelity in terms of thermodynamic and kinetic constants,  and try to demonstrate the connection between entropy and the transmission of information in this context.  My main goal is to try to convey a general idea of nonenzymatic replication using the language of physics, rather than specific chemical structures, in an effort to gives those non-chemists/biologists in the room a description they might find more familiar.