UCSB Chemistry and Biochemistry professor Irene Chen was awarded aSimons Collaboration on the Origins of Life Award.  This program, which supports creative, innovative research on a range of topics –– including the development of prebiotic chemistry, the assembly of the first cells, the advent of Darwinian evolution, and the earliest signs of life on young Earth –– awarded 15 investigators with a range of five-year grants. Irene will receive $1 million over the five-year period to support her work on the origins of life.  Congratulations Irene!