CNHS Undergraduate Research Symposium

All participants will be eligible for an award for best poster presentation. The posters will be judged by faculty based on the following criteria:

1. Clear focus or central research question
2. Sound research methodology
3. Clear presentation of results/product/performance or expected outcome and ability to answer questions
4. Progress on the project to date
5. Contribution to the field or discussion of potential impact

Suggested presentation guidelines
The purpose of the poster should be to engage audience members in a discussion of the research. It is recommended that the poster include a limited amount of text with the majority of the poster space be dedicated to graphics (graphs, photographs, schematics, maps, etc.).  The poster should be no larger than 3 feet tall by 4 feet wide. Posterboard and pushpins will be provided to mount the posters.

The Search for Prebiotic Remnants in Modern Biochemistry

Greg Springsteen, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Furman University
Department of Chemistry

The preponderance of evidence suggests life emerged on Earth almost four billion years ago. As compared to the countless permutations of potential organic molecules, all modern life appears to be comprised of the same chemical alphabet, written in the same chemical font. Is this remarkable invariance in biochemistry the result of the domination of modern metabolic systems over competitors? Or does it spring from a singular past, from a common biochemical ancestor to all extant biology? In this talk, the fidelity with which modern biosynthesis recapitulates early Earth abiogenesis will be analyzed and relevant experiments carried out by undergraduate researchers in Greg Springsteen's lab will be presented.

More details about Springsteen’s research interests can be found here.