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MU researchers granted $5 million from NASA for study

A team of researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia have received funding from NASA to study the origin of life on Earth. Their research centers on RNA molecular structure, and funding will help in the understanding of how life began and evolved on Earth and possibly other planets.

Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia have received a boost of support from the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA).

An announcement Thursday revealed that NASA has given a team of researchers at the university a $5 million dollar grant to study the origin of life on Earth.

The grant is part of the Interdisciplinary Consortium in Astrobiology Research (ICAR) Program that supports research that leads to a better understanding of how life began and evolved on Earth.

Grant funding will be spread out over five years and involves 12 researchers at eight institutions, with MU as the lead institution, according to a Thursday new release.

Led by Donald Burke-Aguero, a researcher at the University of Missouri School of Medicine, the team has been working to study RNA and aims to discover if chains of RNA that fold in on themselves, called ribozymes, can sustain metabolic reactions in a way that supports life.

By understanding the molecular engineering design principles of RNA, Burke-Aguero sees potential for new discoveries that help explain the past and could help humans in the future.