Prof. Betül Kaçar is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology.

Prior to joining the University of Arizona, she was a NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University where she developed molecular systems to bring ancient DNA sequences into the laboratory for physical, chemical  and biological characterization.

Dr. Kacar is one of the Principal Investigators of the NASA Astrobiology Institute Reliving the Past node and is an associate member of the NASA Nexus for Exoplanet System Science designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration in the search for life on exoplanets.

Her research has gained national and international attention, and has been featured by CNN, BBC, NOVA Science, Discover Magazine, NPR Science Friday and Scientific American.