Congratulations to Dr. Charles Carter, Jr., Professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics and Dr. Eric Brustad, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Dr. Rihe Liu, Professor of Pharmacy, who have been awarded a major grant from the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution of the John Templeton Foundation.
The grant has been made possible by the John Templeton Foundation. The John Templeton Foundation serves as a philanthropic catalyst for discoveries relating to the Big Questions of human purpose and ultimate reality. The foundation supports research on subjects ranging from complexity, evolution, and infinity to creativity, forgiveness, love, and free will. Their vision is derived from the late Sir John Templeton鈥檚 optimism about the possibility of acquiring 鈥渘ew spiritual information鈥� and from his commitment to rigorous scientific research and related scholarship. The Foundation鈥檚 motto, 鈥淗ow little we know, how eager to learn,鈥� exemplifies the foundation鈥檚 support for open-minded inquiry and, its hope for advancing human progress through breakthrough discoveries.
The Carolina team will combine combinatorial chemistry and messenger RNA display to understand interaction between proteins and nucleic acids on the early Earth.