Journal of Astrobiology & Outreach

Kunio KAWAMURA

Kunio KAWAMURA
Professor, Department of Human Environmental Studies
Hiroshima Shudo University, Japan

Biography

Kunio Kawamura is currently a Professor of the Department of Human Environmental Studies in Hiroshima Shudo University, Japan. He obtained his Ph.D. from Tohoku University in 1988 on the kinetic investigations of water-soluble porphyrins and the applications for trace metal analyses. He continued his studies at Tohoku University for inorganic synthesis and coal oxidation under hydrothermal conditions. His interests moved to the origin of life problem and joined with Professor James P. Ferris at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1992 – 1995 as postdoctoral fellowship. He moved to Osaka Prefecture University in 1995 and joined Hiroshima Shudo University from 2011. Professor Kawamura’s scientific interests are in the areas of instrumentation of analytical tools for hydrothermal reactions, chemical evolution of peptides and RNA under extreme conditions, construction of RNA life, and unified theory for chemical evolution – biological evolution – human society. Recently, he started environmental studies.

Research Interest

Chemical evolution of RNA and proteins in elation to hydrothermal extreme earth conditions, Replication systems consisting of entirely prebiotic RNA molecules, Development of hydrothermal flow reactors and high temperature UV-visible spectrophotometry for the origin of life study, Kinetics of the prebiotic formation and degradation of RNA and proteins, Unified theory for life-like system from chemical evolution – organisms - social systems