When rocks lay the groundwork for the origin of life

Mineral catalysts found in deep-sea vents convert CO2 and H2 to biomolecules, showing striking parallels to known biological pathways

An international collaboration of researchers in Germany, France and Japan investigated the catalytic activities of minerals found in deep-sea hydrothermal vents. The results suggest that mineral-driven chemical reactions might be closely mapped onto microbial carbon metabolism. … Continue Reading ››

Graphene as a detective to unravel molecular self-assembly

Researchers from the University of Strasbourg & CNRS (France), in collaboration with Humboldt University of Berlin and DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials/RWTH Aachen University (Germany), have demonstrated that graphene devices can be used to monitor in real time the dynamics of molecular self-assembly at the solid/liquid interface. Their results have been published in Nature Communications.

The President Macron received part of the international researchers and students who participate in the “Make our planet great again” program (MOPGA)

Le Président de la République a reçu une partie des chercheurs et étudiants internationaux qui participent au programme « Make our planet great again » (MOPGA). Ils étaient une soixantaine en juin 2017, au lancement de l’opération, ils sont un peu plus de 200 aujourd’hui. Emmanuel Macron voudrait en faire les ambassadeurs … Continue Reading ››

The “Ministère de lʼEnseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de lʼInnovation” has awarded the “Stars of Europe” trophy to the European project iSwitch and to Paolo Samorì, its coordinator .

The “Étoiles de l’Europe” prize rewards European research and innovation projects coordinated by French organizations and honors their coordinators who have made the choice of Europe and demonstrated their ability to lead large-scale networks. This year’s 12 “Stars of Europe” have been selected by a high-level jury for the scientific quality and international dimension of the project, the … Continue Reading ››

Mimicking life’s biochemical networks with Iron

Synthesis and breakdown of universal metabolic precursors promoted by ironResearchers in Strasbourg, France, have found that mixing two small biomolecules, glyoxylate and pyruvate, in iron-salt-rich water produces a reaction network resembling life’s core biochemistry. This discovery provides insight into how chemistry on the early Earth primed the evolution of the most ancient … Continue Reading ››

Thomas Ebbesen awarded the CNRS Gold Medal for 2019

This year’s CNRS Gold Medal, one of France’s most prestigious scientific prize, has been awarded to the Franco-Norwegian physical chemist Thomas Ebbesen. He specializes in nanosciences, a cross-disciplinary field that covers a variety of scientific areas that include carbon materials, optics, nano-photonics and molecular chemistry. His discoveries have notably enabled technological … Continue Reading ››