[Dale Andersen] : Hi Keith, A quick note while the base WiFi is up and running. We spent the last two days digging out the entrance to our hut, removing […]
Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics
Posted inDale Andersen's Field Reports
Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: 26 October 2026: Flying South
Keith’s note: This report may be updated over the course of the day. Dale’s departure from Cape Town was scheduled for 10:00 am Local time but ended up at 10:28 […]
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Novel Antarctic Chemolithotroph Drives Iron Biomineralization
[Microbiome] Background: Iron, the most abundant redox-active metal in the Earth’s crust, is coupled to numerous biogeochemi- cal cycles. However, the mechanisms of iron oxidation and the organisms involved remain […]
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics
VentVirGenomes: A Global Ocean Hydrothermal Vent Virus Genome Dataset for Exploring Diversity, Function, and Host Interactions
[Nature] Ocean hydrothermal vents constitute chemically driven oases of life that fundamentally differ from photosynthesis-based ecosystems.
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics
The Biogeography Of Hydrothermal Vent Giant Viruses Across Earth’s Global Ocean
[biorxiv.org] Viruses are the most abundant known biological entities in the ocean and play central role in microbial ecology. However, the patterns and drivers of their biogeographic distribution across global […]
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics
UV Photodamage Pathways And The Evolutionary Selection Of Thymine Over Uracil In Early Genetic Systems
[PNAS] The evolutionary selection of thymine over uracil in DNA presents a paradox from a photostability perspective, since thymine is found to be more susceptible to photodamage from the intense […]
Posted inBiophysics
Reversion To The Meta Body Form Of Life After Complete Cell Death In Pure Liquid Water
[biorxiv.org] The prevailing view holds that simpler animate beings predating the dawn of cellular life once existed, yet they have long since vanished from the present-day Earth. Our hypothesis posits […]
Posted inCryobiology
Ice Drives The Emergence Of Functional Protocells
[biorxiv.org] A defining feature of living systems is the high local concentration of diverse molecular components within membrane-bounded compartments.
![The RDP network of molecular cell biology. A schematic representation of the autocatalytic (RAF) set arrangement of components and processes constituting the biosynthesis network for the production of new RNA, DNA and protein (i.e., RDP) strands in living cells (gray background). The monomer units of RNA, DNA, and protein strands—ribonucleoside triphosphates (rNTPs), deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs), and amino acids—are considered to represent raw materials (“food”) -- [q-bio.MN]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/System.png?resize=1200%2C718&ssl=1)
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics
System-evolutionary View Of RNA Presence In Living Cells
[q-bio.MN] Our guiding question for this article was: How did RNA adjust its life when the RNA world era came to an end? RNA has its practical execution side in […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
The Unresolved Paradox of Viable Microorganisms in Ancient Halite
[LIFE] Reports of viable microorganisms from ancient halite create an unusual test of the biological limits of cellular survival.