Communications and Public Affairs

Session 1: Archaean Chemistry and Earliest Fossils

8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Introduction Paul Nurse, Ph.D., President, The Rockefeller University The RNA World and the Molecular Origins of Life Gerald F. Joyce, The Scripps Research Institute The Origins of Cellular Life Jack W. Szostak, Harvard Medical School Can the Distribution of Protein Domains Shed Light on the Tree of Life Russell F. Doolittle, University of California, San Diego The Earliest Life on Earth Roger Buick, University of Washington Proterozoic Life and Environments Andrew H. Knoll, Harvard University

Session 2: Cells, Cellular Evolution and Protein History

2 – 5 p.m.

The Tree of Life and Major Transitions in Cell Evolution Thomas Cavalier-Smith, University of Oxford The Origin of Eukaryotes Eugene V. Koonin, National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Institutes of Health Barking up the Wrong Tree: The Dangers of Reification in Molecular Phylogenetics and Systematics W. Ford Doolittle, Dalhousie University RNA Interference May Provide a Window on the RNA-to-DNA World Transition Phillip A. Sharp, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Evening Lecture, 6 – 7 p.m. Feeding and Gloating for More: The Challenge of the New Creationism Jerry A. Coyne, The University of Chicago

Session 3: Development of Eukaryotic Genetic Capacity and Multicellularity

9 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.

The Deep Evolutionary History of Eukaryotes Andrew Roger, Dalhousie University Demonstrating the Sufficiency of Microevolutionary Processes David Penny, Massey University Genes and Development: A Comparison of Human and Amphioxus Genomes Peter W.H. Holland, University of Oxford Cnidaria and the Evolution of the Bilaterian Body Plans: Insights from an Outgroup Ulrich Technau, University of Vienna

Session 4: Human Evolution through the Lens of DNA Sequences

1:45 – 5 p.m.

Evolution of Human Populations L. Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Stanford University School of Medicine Accelerated Evolution in the Human Genome Katherine S. Pollard, University of California, Davis Probing Human Brain Evolution at the Genetic Level Bruce T. Lahn, The University of Chicago A Neanderthal Perspective on Human Origins Fairfield Osborn Memorial Lecture Svante Pääbo, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology