#  Professor Matthew Powner (University College London) "Lost in translation, the origins of life’s peptides" 

 



####  calendar\_today Date and Time 

 **March 25, 2026** 

 04:00PM - 05:30PM EDT 

####  pin\_drop Location 

 **Haller Hall - 24 Oxford Street**  



 

 



 

Abstract:

Ribosomal peptide synthesis (RPS) is orchestrated through the aminoacylation of RNAs by  
aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase enzymes that are produced by RPS. This causal paradox, which  
was established prior to the evolution of life’s last universal common ancestor, obscures the  
origins of protein biosynthesis. To break this paradox, we set out to build a deterministic  
model of the minimum reactivity required to initiate peptide biosynthesis.

The chemical unity and antiquity of life’s central metabolites provide compelling evidence  
that a simple set of chemical reactions predicated the appearance of life on Earth, 1-2 and we  
reasoned that rediscovering such a reaction network, and the rules that control it, would be the  
key to uncovering the origins of peptide biosynthesis.  
In this talk recent advances that suggest life’s nucleotides, 1,3 peptides, 3-7 and cofactors 8 are  
predisposed structures will be presented. These results indicate that (biological) thioester  
activation can direct RNA to intercept peptide synthesis, 9 which is an essential step towards  
establishing life’s central dogma.  
Selected references

  
\[1\] Powner + Nature 2009, 459, 239–242.  
\[2\] Coggins + Nat. Chem. 2017, 9, 310–317.  
\[3\] Islam + Nat. Chem. 2017, 9, 584–589.  
\[4\] Canavelli + Nature 2019, 571, 546–549.  
\[5\] Foden + Science 2020, 370, 865–869.  
\[6\] Singh + J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 10151–10155  
\[7\] Thoma + J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 3121–3130.  
\[8\] Fairchild + Science 2024, 383, 911–918.  
\[9\] Singh + Nature 2025, 644, 933–944



 

 



 

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