News

issol — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 00:31:33 +0000

ISSOL is the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life and Astrobiology Society. As of 2009, the society has over 500 members representing over 20 countries in disciplines as varied as astronomy and molecular biology. The society’s supporting journal, Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres (OLEB), has been publishing work in the field since 1968 and is the longest established and most authoritative journal for Astrobiology and origins of life research. Jack W. Szostak and Ada Yonath, were recipients of 2009 Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine and Chemistry, respectively. The leadership of the organization strives to be inclusive of ethnicity and gender, having elected the first woman president for 2008–2011.

Origin of Life Research Award

The Lonsdale Award received 76 entries, many from ISSOL members, of which 15 were selected for review. The panel is composed almost entirely of ISSOL members. Dave Deamer will chair the panel, and Ken Nealson is vice-chair. The review process will resemble that used in major funding agencies, in which a primary and secondary reviewer read the proposal carefully and report to the full panel during the meeting. This is followed by a discussion and a confidential vote in which each panelist ranks the proposal from 1 to 5, with 1 being the best score. After the meeting Mr. Lonsdale will consider the panel scores, comments and recommendation, then choose the winner. The panel meets in San Diego March 30, and the prize will be announced about a month later.

First International Symposium on Evolutionary Biology

Cabo Branco Station-Science, Culture and Art

João Pessoa, Brazil

June 5th to 8th, 2012

Further Information in the website.

With the support of: Núcleo de Estudos em Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Sociedade Brasileira de Genética and ISSOL-The International Astrobiology Society.

ISSOL Awards 2011

During the past meeting Origins 2011, held in Montpellier (France), several of our colleagues were distinguished with the ISSOL Awards.

Urey Medal

Jack W. Szostak (Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA)

Miller Research Award

Matthew Powner (Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA)

White Research Award

Irene Chen (FAS Center for Systems Biology, Harvard University USA)

Miller Fellow

Chris Dupont (J. Craig Venter Institute, USA)

ISSOL Fellows

Gustaf Arrhenius (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USA)

J. Peter Gogarten (University of Connecticut, USA)

Ramanarayanan (“Ram”) Krishnamurthy (The Scripps Research Institute, USA)

Best Poster Awards

Chenyu Wei (NASA Ames Research Center, United States of America), Cécile Feuillie (Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon: Terre, Planètes, Environnement, ENS de Lyon, France), Trinity Hamilton (Astrobiology Biogeocatalysis Research Center, Montana State University, USA), Tyler D. Robinson (Astronomy Department, University of Washington, USA; University of Washington Astrobiology Program; NASA Astrobiology Institute), Elio Mattia (Centre for Systems Chemistry, Stratingh Institute, University of Groningen, The Netherlands), Katie Marriott (University of Leeds, United Kingdom), Patrick J. Gasda (University of Hawaii, USA), Tsubasa Otake (Tohoku University, Japan), Delphine Nna Mvondo (Centro de Astrobiologia, CSIC-INTA, Spain), Irma Lozada-Chavez (Interdisciplinary Center for Bioinformatics and Department of Computer Science, University of Leipzig, Germany), Ari Brozinski (Department of Geology and Minerology, Åbo Akademi, Finland).