How did it all begin? The self-assembly of organic molecules and the origin of cellular life explained by dr. David Deamer, a member of the Chemistry and Biology faculties at the University of California, Santa Cruz. His primary research area is membrane biophysics, and he has applied biophysical approaches to the question of how membrane structures may have been involved in the origin of cellular life. This research has established that amphiphilic molecules present in carbonaceous meteorites can self-assemble into membrane structures, which suggests that membranes were plausibly present in the prebiotic environment. In related work, it was demonstrated that macromolecules such as RNA polymerase can be encapsulated in lipid vesicles under simulated prebiotic conditions, and that the polymerase can use external substrates to synthesize RNA inside liposomes. A current objective of the NASA-supported research in Dr. Deamer's laboratory is to develop a template-dependent RNA synthesis system in liposomes that can undergo amplification and evolutionary selection.