http://pandasthumb.org/archives/2008/05/from-rna-to-hum.html

The Rockefeller University presents a two day symposium on “From RNA to Humans”

With videos of all the lectures

Session 1: Archaean Chemistry and Earliest Fossils

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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