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Research

Our projects include biological and (geo)chemical approaches that presently are disparate. The opportunities lie at the interface between the disciplines. We are aiming for a highly interdisciplinary team and experimental environment. We want to advance in the experimental reconstructions of the first biology-like reaction networks in a prebiotic context.

Fig. 1: Scanning Electron Microscopy images of a rock sample collected at Rainbow hydrothermal field (a serpentinizing system) (credit: Martina Preiner).

Biological, chemical and geological experimental and analytical methods play equal roles in our lab. Enzyme assays, liquid state chemical analyses (NMR, LC-MS, FTIR, Raman), solid state chemical analyses (XRD, FTIR, Raman), imaging techniques (Raman and electron microscopy, see Fig. 1 and 2) and high pressure catalytic setups (Fig. 3) are only a part of the techniques we are and will be using for our research. We want to fill a niche that connects both biological (top down) and chemical/geochemical (bottom up) approaches—in a conceptual and in an experimental context. 

Fig. 2: Raman Microscopy image of a rock sample collected at Rainbow hydrothermal field (a serpentinizing system) (credit: Martina Preiner)

Fig. 3: Schematic of high pressure setup for mineral-assisted catalysis. (Image credit: Andrey do Nascimento Vieira and Martina Preiner)