Besides its multiple commercial uses, borate minerals have been recently of great interest for researchers seeking for an explanation to the origin of life on Earth. The largest borate mineral deposit in Peru is located in a salt flat in the Arequipa province.

The origin of life on Earth is one of the most challenging questions in science. In the last 60 years, considerable progress has been made in understanding how simple molecules relevant to life can be generated spontaneously or are known to arrive to Earth from space. Additionally, analysis of the evolution history of nucleic acids, which are the repository of genetic information, points to a now extinct, universal common ancestor for all life on Earth. The studies of the origin of life offer many clues towards a common origin, perhaps not just on Earth but somewhere else in the solar system. However due to the length of time that the Earth has harbored life, the oldest clues of the first organisms are mostly gone. It is unlikely to find exactly what this first organism was like. Nevertheless, in the last few years, synthetic biology has made remarkable progress at modifying biomolecules...

The origin of life on Earth is one of the most challenging questions in science. In the last 60 years, considerable progress has been made in understanding how simple molecules relevant to life can be generated spontaneously or are known to arrive to Earth from space. Additionally, analysis of the evolution history of nucleic acids, which are the repository of genetic information, points to a now extinct, universal common ancestor for all life on Earth. The studies of the origin of life offer many clues towards a common origin, perhaps not just on Earth but somewhere else in the solar system. However due to the length of time that the Earth has harbored life, the oldest clues of the first organisms are mostly gone. It is unlikely to find exactly what this first organism was like. Nevertheless, in the last few years, synthetic biology has made remarkable progress at modifying biomolecules...

Besides its multiple commercial uses, borate minerals have been recently of great interest for researchers seeking for an explanation to the origin of life on Earth. The largest borate mineral deposit in Peru is located in a salt flat in the Arequipa province.

In the last twenty years, the number of complete genomes that have been sequenced and deposited in data banks has grown dramatically. This abundance in sequence information has supported the creation of the discipline known as  paleogenetics. In this article, without going into complex algorithms, we present some key concepts for understanding how proteins have evolved in time. We then illustrate how paleogenetic analysis can be used in biotechnology. These examples highlight the connection between chemistry and biology, two disciplines that twenty years ago seemed to be more different than what they seem to be today.

In the last twenty years, the number of complete genomes that have been sequenced and deposited in data banks has grown dramatically. This abundance in sequence information has supported the creation of the discipline known as  paleogenetics. In this article, without going into complex algorithms, we present some key concepts for understanding how proteins have evolved in time. We then illustrate how paleogenetic analysis can be used in biotechnology. These examples highlight the connection between chemistry and biology, two disciplines that twenty years ago seemed to be more different than what they seem to be today.