An enduring research partnership exists beween four scientists from different disciplines: Professor Lee Cronin (University of Glasgow), Professor Natalio Krasnogor and Professor Cameron Alexander (University of Nottingham) and Professor Ben Davis (University of Oxford). They met during a 2004 EPSRC-sponsored 'Sandpit' creative workshop. The sandpit focussed on the potential development of synthetic chemical cells or CHELLS.
Work from this project led to an EPSRC Leadership Fellowship (2009-2014) for Professor Alexander, who leads the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Targeted Therapeutics & Formulation Sciences here at Nottingham. The project also led to enhanced links at Nottingham with leading pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca, Boots, GSK and Pfizer.
In December 2014, the team reported it had succeeded in creating an abiotic evolving chemical system for the first time. The process uses a robotic 'aid' and could be used in the future to 'evolve' new chemicals capable of performing specific tasks - this is highlighted in the latest EPSRC Pioneer magazine.
This could lead to new forms of life - but not quite as we know them!
Posted on Tuesday 3rd February 2015