Protocells Future Salon February 20, 2009

The origins of life have fascinated us for centuries and on the 20th of February we will have the great opportunity to hear about the latest research and discoveries in that field from two of the authors of the Book Protocells - Bridging non living with living matter, that was published a couple of weeks ago.

Protocells offers a comprehensive resource on current attempts to create simple forms of life from scratch in the laboratory. These minimal versions of cells, known as protocells, are entities with lifelike properties created from nonliving materials, and the book provides in-depth investigations of processes at the interface between nonliving and living matter.

Endorsement: "Protocells, which bridge nonliving and living matter, are playing increasingly important roles in studies on the origin of life, artificial life, and synthetic biology. This book serves as a bridge for both nonexperts and experts in the field, providing introductory and primer material on protocells, as well as more advanced, cutting-edge updates on this exciting subject." —J.J. Collins, Co-Director, Center for BioDynamics and Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University

Two of the authors are going to present:

Mark A. Bedau is Professor of Humanities at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He is the coeditor of Emergence: Contemporary Readings in Science and Philosophy and Protocells: Bridging Nonliving and Living Matter, both published by the MIT Press in 2008.

David Deamer is Research Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, Santa Cruz. David edited the book Origins of Life: The Central Concepts, Jones and Bartlett 1994. He is currently working on his next book to be published early in 2010 by UC Press.

This is going to be so cool, they may even cover the ethical implications of their research.

Future Salons have the following structure: 6-7pm is networking with light refreshments proudly sponsored by SAP; 7-9+pm is the presentation followed by questions and discussion.

SAP Labs North America, Building D, Room Southern Cross or Cafeteria depending on number of RSVPs. SAP is located at 3410 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304[map]. Free and open to the public. Please spread the word and invite others, but be sure to RSVP http://budurl.com/xx4a so we know how many people to expect.