Andrew Pohorille

Andrew Pohorille
Born(1949-05-14)May 14, 1949
Szczecin, Poland
DiedJanuary 6, 2024(2024-01-06) (aged 74)
EducationUniversity of Warsaw
AwardsNASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal
NASA Exceptional Service Medal
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of California, Berkeley
UCSF
NASA Ames Research Center
Doctoral advisorDavid Shugar
Other academic advisorsBernard Pullman

Andrzej (Andrew) Pohorille (May 14, 1949 – January 6, 2024) was a Polish-American astrobiologist, biophysicist, and quantum chemist who worked mostly at the NASA-Ames Research Center and University of California, San Francisco. He was a leading scientist on the origin of life and biosignature detection at NASA. His work proposed that proteins may have been the first molecules to support life, challenging RNA-first theories of abiogenesis.