How did life originate on earth? by Vidyanand Nanjundiah | Archives Public Lecture Series #72
Archives at NCBS | Public Lecture Series
72nd edition
Talks framed around explorations in and around archives. Discussions by artists, archivists, academics, lawyers, teachers, journalists and others.
How did life originate on earth?
Vidyanand Nanjundiah
Tue, Jan 20, 2026. 4 PM
Dasheri, NCBS
Details: https://bit.ly/APLS-VN
This special edition of the Archives Public Lecture Series includes various events: a reflection by Vidyanand Nanjundiah on an issue that has engrossed minds for a long time, the origin of life; an introduction to the scientific history of Jeewanu and the work in Shashi Thutupalli's lab to revive and extend it; and the launch and tour of the archival papers of Krishna Bahadur and S Ranganayaki, co-discoverers of Jeewanu.
Abstract:
The talk by Vidyanand Nanjundiah will deal with an issue that has engrossed minds for a long time, namely the origin of life. That leads us to ask how to define life (a question that also engages legal and medical professionals, especially in today's technology-driven world). Beyond the truism that life must have arisen from non-living matter, there are several hypotheses regarding the precise route that was taken. Many of them seem plausible. We may never know how it actually happened, or indeed whether life had a single beginning. The talk will describe some of the ways in which humans have grappled with the puzzle of life's ultimate origin(s).
Bio:
Prof. Vidyanand Nanjundiah earned his BSc degree (1967) from the University of Bombay and his PhD (1972) from the University of Chicago. He held post-doctoral positions at the Hubrecht Laboratorium Utrecht (1973), The Netherlands; Max-Planck-Institute Tubingen (1974-75), Germany; and Biozentrum (1975-76), Basel, Switzerland. He worked as Assistant Professor (1976-80) and Professor (1989-92) at the Centre for Theoretical Studies, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. He has been a member of the Molecular Biology Unit, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay, Department of Molecular Reproduction, Development and Genetics and Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore. At present, he is an Honorary Professor at the Centre for Human Genetics, Bengaluru.