[biorxiv.org] Life began with the emergence of a molecule that could replicate its own genetic material, a task plausibly mediated by an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase ribozyme.
biochemistry
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Auroral Belts As Magnetically Localized Reactors For Prebiotic Chemistry On Early Earth
[Biosystems] Most models of prebiotic chemistry emphasize globally distributed or widely acting energy sources, including ultraviolet radiation, lightning, impacts, and energetic particles.
Posted inMars
Stability Of Uracil In Different Sulphates Under Martian-like UV Irradiation
[Icarus] Mars is one of the most probable and accessible places where life could have evolved beyond Earth.
![Conceptual diagrams of the three experimental setups used to produce the tholin samples measured in this study: (a) UNI/PAC, (b) JHU/PHAZER, (c) ARC/COSmIC featuring a diagram of the pulsed discharge nozzle adapted from Sciamma-O’Brien et al. (2014).-- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/A-Cross.png?resize=1200%2C634&ssl=1)
Posted inTitan
A Cross-Laboratory Comparison Study of Titan Haze Analogs: Surface Energy II
[astro-ph.EP] The organic haze particles on Titan play important roles in atmospheric cloud formation and aerosol-lake interactions.
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
The Emergence Of Life In The Light Of Evolution
[q-bio.PE] The origin of life is often framed primarily as a chemical problem, yet life s defining feature is evolution.
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
ReactionAtlas: Ab Origine Exploration Of Chemical Reaction Networks With Machine Learning
[cs.LG] Mapping a chemical reaction network, the graph of minima and transition states (TS) and the elementary reactions connecting them, is the natural language of chemistry, from catalysis to combustion […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
Proto-Biosignatures and Planetary Geochemical Metabolism: A Thermodynamic Screening Model of Prebiotic Geochemical Organization
[Life (Basel)] Astrobiological observations usually return atmospheric, mineralogical, molecular, isotopic, or textural states rather than organisms.
![A symbiotic scenario for co-evolution of the ribosome and the replicase. Two variations of the scenario are depicted, whereby the peptidyltransferase center (PTC) and the replicase (REP) ribozymes are encoded by distinct (A) or the same (B) RNA molecule. The figure depicts three major stages of cellular evolution from the primordial RNA world (left) to the intermediate RNA-protein world (center) and the last universal cellular ancestor (LUCA, right). The major events occurring during each stage are briefly described in the corresponding information boxes at the bottom of the figure. -- [q-bio.PE]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/The-selfish.png?resize=1200%2C712&ssl=1)
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics
The Selfish Ribosome
[q-bio.PE]. The ribosome is responsible for protein synthesis in all cells, and is the largest energy consumer in the cell.
Posted inAstrochemistry
Slow-electron-triggered Chemistry In Interstellar Methanol-water Ices
[Astronomy & Astrophysics] Water and, to a lesser extent, methanol are widespread in interstellar space as ices, where sustained exposure to ionizing radiation promotes the formation of complex compounds such […]
![Graphical abstract -- [The Journal of Membrane Biology]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/From-Meteorites.png?resize=1200%2C712&ssl=1)
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry
From Meteorites to Membrane Rafts: Ganglioside-Incorporating Prebiotic Vesicles and the Emergence of Membrane Domain Organization
[The Journal of Membrane Biology] Life requires membranes. But what were the first membranes made of, and how did they acquire the functional complexity of modern cells?