A Proposal for the RNAome at the Dawn of the Last Universal Common Ancestor

Miryam Palacios-Pérez is a postdoctoral researcher fellow at the Theoretical Biology Group at National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She completed her BSc and PhD studies at the same university. Her research, as first author or in collaborations, has focused on the early evolution of life using bioinformatic and theoretical approaches, tracing the evolution of biomolecules following its ancient codes. Miryam became the first Mexican member of the International Team of the Network of Researchers on the Chemical Emergence of Life, NoRCEL, and she is Head of NoRCEL’s Latin American Hub. Miryam has also collaborated on other types of works, such as structural analyses of the SARS-Cov2 virus, and the functioning of the microbiome.

Marco V. José received his B.S. degree in biology and mathematics at the Faculty of Sciences, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) (1975-1978, 3 years). He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in biomedical sciences from the Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, UNAM, (1981-1984, 3 years). He took Ph.D. courses in mathematical statistics from University of Washington, Seattle, Autumn and Fall 1981 (6 months). He was a Postdoctoral Fellow in mathematical epidemiology and demography from Princeton University, New Jersey, USA, 1985-1987 (2.5 years). Marco's interests include molecular biophysics of ligand binding to receptors; modelling heart rate variability and sudden cardiac death; mathematical epidemiology; evolutionary genomics (viral, prokaryotes, and primate evolution); and the evolution of the genetic code. He has mentored 12 doctoral students and 3 postdoctoral researchers. He has about 150 publications in scientific journals and is listed in ISI as a first and/or corresponding author. He was also appointed a Member of Sigma Xi Society (since September 2004), a Member of the American Society of Mathematical Biology (since January 1995), and a Member of the Network of Researchers on the Chemical Emergence of Life (NoRCEL, since 2021).