For years, chemist Nick Hud struggles to share his work with his Catholic mother, until he finds help from a surprising source.

Nicholas Hud was born in Los Angeles, California. He received his B.S. from Loyola Marymount University, his Ph.D. from UC Davis, and postdoctoral training at UCLA. Prof. Hud has studied the structure and function of DNA in various cells and viruses for over twenty-five years. Since joining the faculty of Georgia Tech in 1999, his laboratory has become increasingly involved in the search for the chemical origins of life, with a focus on the origin of RNA. Prof. Hud is currently Director of the NSF/NASA Center for Chemical Evolution and Associate Director of the Petit Institute of Bioengineering and Bioscience.

This story originally aired on April 8, 2014.