US-Sweden Cooperative Science: Oligonucleotide Synthesis on Minerals
{'Code': '01090000', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'O/D', 'LongName': 'Office Of The Director'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'OISE', 'LongName': 'Office Of Internatl Science &Engineering'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Pierre Perrolle', 'PO_EMAI': None, 'PO_PHON': None}
This award will support collaborative research between Professor James          P. Ferris, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Dr. Nils G. Holm,              University of Stockholm, in studies aimed at understanding the                  beginnings of life on earth.  In particular, the role of various                minerals serving as catalysts for the formation of RNA-like polymers            under conditions approximating those that may have existed on the               primitive earth will be investigated.  Iron-containing minerals were            likely catalysts for the formation of such polymers on the primitive            earth, and this research will study how effectively such minerals               catalyze the formation of the phosphate ester bond.  Dr. Holm's earlier         work has been as a geological chemist; he will prepare the minerals and         confirm their structure.  Prof. Ferris, a chemist, will investigate             their catalytic properties.                                                                                                                                     This project brings together the chemical and geological disciplines;           Prof. Ferris, an expert in pre-biological organic reactions and in the          types of organic structures that would have been important in the first         living systems, will work with an expert in geological environments and         the possible reaction conditions in those environments.  This research          should result in the identification of a set of minerals which may have         been important catalysts for the formation of structures essential to           the origin of life on the primitive earth.
{'FirstName': 'James', 'LastName': 'Ferris', 'PI_MID_INIT': 'P', 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'James P Ferris', 'EmailAddress': 'ferrij@rpi.edu', 'NSF_ID': '000221219', 'StartDate': '12/15/1987', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
{'Name': 'Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute', 'CityName': 'TROY', 'ZipCode': '121803590', 'PhoneNumber': '5182766000', 'StreetAddress': '110 8TH ST', 'StreetAddress2': None, 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'New York', 'StateCode': 'NY', 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': '20', 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_ORG': 'NY20', 'ORG_UEI_NUM': 'U5WBFKEBLMX3', 'ORG_LGL_BUS_NAME': 'RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE', 'ORG_PRNT_UEI_NUM': None}
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{'Code': '5937', 'Text': 'SWEDEN'}
{'url': 'https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/download?DownloadFileName=1987&All=true', 'xml': '8712007.xml'}