John Sutherland (chemist)
| John D. Sutherland | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 24, 1962 |
| Residence | United Kingdom |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | chemist |
John D. Sutherland (born July 24, 1962) is a British chemist at Medical Research Council (UK) (MRC), Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB), Protein & Nucleic Acid Chemistry Division.[1]
Biography
Sutherland obtained a B.A. in Chemistry from Lincoln College at the University of Oxford in 1984 and a Ph.D. under Jack Baldwin at Balliol College at Oxford.[2] He lectured organic chemistry at Oxford for eight years. In 1998 he accepted a position at Manchester University as Professor of Biological Chemistry, a position he held until 2010 before moving to Cambridge and the Medical Research Council (UK) Laboratory of Molecular Biology.[3] Since 2013, he has been a Simons Investigator and member of the Steering Committee for the Simons Collaboration on the Origin of Life.[2]
Research
In 2009, Sutherland, along with Matthew Powner and Beatrice Gerland, detailed the first plausible prebiotic synthesis of activated pyrimidine nucleotides, which had previously been a significant problem for the RNA World hypothesis of early life emergence.[4] Previous prebiotic syntheses of nucleotides had attempted to form them through assembly of their constituent parts, a nucleobase, sugar, and phosphate,[5] but with only limited efficacy for purine nucleotides, and no success for pyrimidine nucleotides.[6][7] However, Sutherland produced a synthesis resulting in the formation of β-ribocytidine-2',3' cyclic phosphate, a partially activated nucleotide, that is remarkable for its stereospecifity and yield.[5] Instead of assembling the nucleotide components in stepwise linear reactions, the synthesis proceeds through the reaction of cyanoacetylene with an aminooxazole intermediate that is formed from glycolaldehyde and cyanamide, molecules that were likely present on early Earth.[5]
In June 2012, Sutherland, along with his former colleague, the chemist Matthew Powner, from University College London, won the Origin of Life Challenge.[8]
In 2015, in an article in Nature Chemistry, Sutherland demonstrated a plausible prebiotic scheme showing that the precursors of pyrimidine nucleotides formed from hydrogen cyanide can also form precursors of lipids and amino acids, providing significant evidence that early life may have emerged from a common chemistry on prebiotic Earth.[9][10] His work has been heralded by Nobel-prize winning geneticist Jack Szostak as an important advance in understanding the origins of life.
Awards
- The Max Tishler Prize Lectureship, Harvard University, USA, 2009
- The Royal Society of Chemistry Tilden Prize, 2011
- Co-winner of the Origin of Life Challenge, 2012[8]
- The Royal Society Darwin Medal, 2014[11]
Selected Works
- Matthew W. Powner, Beatrice Gerland & John D. Sutherland "Synthesis of activated pyrimidine ribonucleotides in prebiotically plausible conditions". Nature 2009, 459, 239-242.
- Matthew W. Powner and John D. Sutherland - "Prebiotic chemistry: a new modus operandi", Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 2011 366, 2870-2877
- B.H. Patel, C. Percivalle, D.J. Ritson, C.D. Duffy, & John D. Sutherland. "Common origins of RNA, protein, and lipid precursors in a cyanosulfidic protometabolism." Nature Chemistry 2015, 7(4): 301-307. doi:10.1038/nchem.2202.
References
- ↑
- 1 2 "Simons Collaboration on the Origins of Life: John Sutherland | Simons Foundation". www.simonsfoundation.org. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
- ↑ "Curriculum Vitae of John D. Sutherland"
- ↑ Nicholas Wade, "Chemist Shows How RNA Can Be the Starting Point for Life", New York Times, 13 May 2009. Accessed 12 December 2012.
- 1 2 3 Powner, Matthew W.; Gerland, Béatrice; Sutherland, John D. "Synthesis of activated pyrimidine ribonucleotides in prebiotically plausible conditions". Nature. 459 (7244): 239–242. doi:10.1038/nature08013.
- ↑ Fuller, W. D.; Sanchez, R. A.; Orgel, L. E. (1972-06-14). "Studies in prebiotic synthesis. VI. Synthesis of purine nucleosides". Journal of Molecular Biology. 67 (1): 25–33. ISSN 0022-2836. PMID 4339529.
- ↑ E, Orgel Leslie (2004-01-01). "Prebiotic Chemistry and the Origin of the RNA World". Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 39 (2): 99–123. doi:10.1080/10409230490460765. ISSN 1040-9238.
- 1 2 "John Sutherland co-wins the Origin of Life Challenge - MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology". MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. 2012-06-08. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
- ↑ Patel, Bhavesh H.; Percivalle, Claudia; Ritson, Dougal J.; Duffy, Colm D.; Sutherland, John D. "Common origins of RNA, protein and lipid precursors in a cyanosulfidic protometabolism". Nature Chemistry. 7 (4): 301–307. doi:10.1038/nchem.2202. PMC 4568310
. PMID 25803468. - ↑ Wade, Nicholas (2015-05-04). "Making Sense of the Chemistry That Led to Life on Earth". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
- ↑ "John Sutherland awarded the 2014 Royal Society Darwin Medal - MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology". MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. 2014-08-05. Retrieved 2016-11-18.