About
Simon Nicholas Platts, Ph.D., P.Chem., is a British-Australian-Canadian chemist. He obtained an Honours degree at Monash University, majoring in Chemistry, where his 4th-year concentration was in Structural Chemistry by XRD methods, under the direction of the renowned mineral & crystal chemist, Dr. Bryan M.K.C. Gatehouse (1932-2014). He was introduced to the 'Origin-of-Life' problem in Chemistry by Prof. Ronald D. Brown (1927-2008) in 1986. Inspired by the multidisciplinary example set by British geologist Prof. Michael J. Russell, it was the British chemist Prof. Stephen F. Mason (1923-2007) who advised looking to the U.S. for graduate school. In 1996, Prof. Gerald F. Joyce kindly let him attend a Gordon Research Conference (Ventura, Calif.), to hear discussion of the state of research across the 'Origin-of-Life' field. He relocated from Australia to the U.S. in 1999 to pursue pre-doctoral studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY), under Prof. James P. Ferris (1932-2016), also coming under the influence of Prof. John W. Delano (SUNY-Albany). While at RPI, he improved a photochemical apparatus for generating Titan 'haze' analogue materials, in support of the Cassini-Huygens mission in-flight for the Saturn system. In 2002, he moved to the Geophysical Laboratory at the Carnegie Institution (Wash., D.C.), on predoctoral fellowship to work in the Organic Geochemistry lab of Dr. George D. Cody. While at the GL, he was kindly given the tools, time, and peaceful surroundings which then collaboratively led to the long-missed 'end run' conceptual breakthrough that later became known as the (RPI-Carnegie-NASA) "PAH World" model [a name that was kindly coined for it by Dr. Robert M. Hazen] for a logical nexus mechanism between the physical sciences and earliest-recognizable pre-RNA proto-informational oligomeric materials that could've been produced abiogenically on the early (prebiotic) Earth. Prior to coming to North America, he taught senior Chemistry (along with middle-school Science & a Religious Studies class) at Melbourne Grammar School. In the U.K., he taught Chemistry at Oundle School (Salters' & GCSE). In industry, he's worked on environmental remediation projects (soil & water), and has even 'slung pipe' in the oilpatch to be able to observe applied chemical aspects of 'fracking' operations first-hand. He's currently at RPI, giving-back to his doctoral alma mater by teaching Chemistry to undergraduates from an industrial & practical problem-solving perspective.
B.Sc.(Hons), M.Sc., Dip.Ed., Ph.D., P.Chem.
Research
A geochemical underpinning for earliest-recognizable 'pre-RNA' oligomeric materials, upstream in Time of the RNA World hypothesis for Biology.
2025 was a great year for Biology's RNA World hypothesis, given news that material retrieved from asteroid "Bennu" contains nitrogenous heterocycles (incl. all 5 bio-canonical nucleobases), as well as [racemic] sugars (incl. ribose). So if these kinds of molecules could've been present in Darwin's "warm little pond," then Chemistry & Materials Science/Engineering may now be able to provide a rational explanation for the formation of recognizable 'pre-RNA' oligo-materials on the early-Earth (& potentially on other suitable planets, as well).
In 1953, the chemical description of the iconic DNA model's sec-tertiary structure apparently missed a facet, and consequently a clue to the steadily-strengthening possibility of earthly life's abiogenic/biopoietic origination via the RNA World route.
How & why this happened, with light kindly shone on some of the historical aspects for us by Dr. Maxine F. Singer (1931-2024) & Prof. James D. Watson (1928-2025), along with the seeming implications (across several scientific fronts) are matters of interest here.
It's become clear that if German chemist Dr. Daniel Vorländer (1867-1941) could've just lived long enough to see the iconic 1953 DNA model structure, then the aperiodic quasi-discotic liquid crystal (mesophase) aspect of its sec-tertiary structure wouldn't then have gone apparently unremarked (esp. by workers in the origins-of-life field) until May 2004, when the abiogenic/biopoietic link between extant Nucleic Acid structure and the field of "discotics" was suddenly & brilliantly realized by Dr. George D. Cody III, during a corridor-conversation at the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory (NW, DC).
That discussion was about a novel stacked-&-edge-derivatized- PAHs 'scaffolding' model system, which seemed to be predicting a 'blind' geochemical mechanism for the natural generation of daughter oligomeric materials that'd plainly be recognizable as pre-RNA candidates.
The great French chimiste Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) famously inspired his students by telling them that "chance favors the prepared mind"; an STEM-educational truth exemplified twice in this work.
The unexpected 'first glimpse' of a new way for Chemistry to fundamentally underpin things for the RNA World hypothesis in Molecular Biology occurred during an Astrochemistry seminar that was being given at RPI by Dr. Max P. Bernstein on November 19th 2001.
One crucial NASA Ames .ppt slide which he showed during his talk (in RPI's Low-3051 lecture theater) ultimately led to what's become known as the PAH World model system for pre-RNA oligo-materials to have been able to arise naturally, 'upstream' in Time of Biology's magnificent RNA World scenario for a scientifically-rational Origin of Life on Earth.
As the British humanist philosopher Prof. A.C. Grayling wrote in his book Ideas That Matter (2009), the PAH World has "much to play for."
With hindsight, it's humbling to realize that the origin-of-life problem could potentially have been addressed in this 'scaffold-originated, daughter quasi-discotic mesophase, sec-tertiary structural regions of aperiodic liquid crystallinity' way, even as early as 1953, following the discovery of DNA's iconic model structural solution at Cambridge.
But on first meeting the iconic Graphite structure at school, which of us ever thought (or dared!) to ask our Chemistry teacher: What happens at the edge of each "infinite" 2D sheet?
Publications
Platts, S.N. (2004a) Webcast & video-archived seminar in the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) virtual Forum for Astrobiology Research (FAR) series, presented at 4:30pm (ET) on Monday July 12th 2004, in the DTM/GL Library at the Carnegie Institution of Washington (CIW/NAI), Wash., DC, USA. This was the first public presentation of the novel ‘PAH World’ model system for the abiogenic/biopoietic geochemical origination of discotic-scaffold-daughtered oligomeric pre-RNA materials, towards helping underpin the RNA World hypothesis in Molecular Biology; this virtual FAR seminar was archived at: http://nai.nasa.gov/seminars/indexall.cfm .
Platts, S.N. (2004b) Abstract & one figure included in the Carnegie Institution of Washington’s (CIW/NAI) progress report on astrobiology, published online (December 2004) in the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) Annual Report Year 6 (7/1/03-6/30/04). The new ‘PAH World’ model is also specifically mentioned by the Director of the NAI, Dr. Bruce N. Runnegar, in his Introduction to the Report at: http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/year6/ .
Platts, S.N. (2005a) Poster abstract: “The ‘PAH World’: Discotic Polynuclear Aromatic Compounds as Mesophase Scaffolding at the Origin of Life.” Gordon Research Conference (GRC) ‘Origin of Life’ (Chair: Dr. George D. Cody), Ventura, Calif., USA, January 16th-21st, 2005.
Platts, S.N. (2005b) Poster abstract: “The ‘PAH World’: Discotic Polynuclear Aromatic Compounds as Mesophase Scaffolding at the Origin of Life.” Abstract #616 at “NAI 2005,” The Biennial Meeting of the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI), Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, Colo., USA, 10th-14th April, 2005. Astrobiology 5, 225-226; ( http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/ast.2005.5.215 ). Abstract & one figure also published online (i.) at the “NAI 2005” conference website at: http://nai.nasa.gov/nai2005/abstracts.cfm (Session 3: ‘Origins of Life,’ Abstract #616, http://nai.nasa.gov/nai2005/abstracts/616%20-%20S.N.Platts%20PAH_World.doc.pdf ), and (ii.) by the Carnegie Institution of Washington (CIW/NAI) at: http://astrobiology.ciw.edu/uploaded/documents/Platts_NAI2005.doc .
Platts, S.N. (2006a) Poster titled “The ‘PAH World’: Discotic Polynuclear Aromatic Compounds as Mesophase Scaffolding for the Earliest pre-RNA.” Presented at the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) Astrobiology Science Conference “AbSciCon 2006,” Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center, Wash., DC, USA, 26th-30th March, 2006.
Platts, S.N. (2006b) Doctoral dissertation titled "Contributions to Chemical Questions in Origins of Life." Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Troy, New York, August 2006.
http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3232619