Sugars are essential biomolecules, serving as metabolic fuels, nucleic acid backbone components, and structural or energy-storage polymers. A central question in origin-of-life research is how monosaccharides formed on the primitive […]
biochemistry
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Assessing the Earliest Evidence for Life in the Geologic and Genomic Records
Both the geologic and genomic records provide information on the earliest history of terrestrial life.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Status Report
Stereoselective Phosphorylation of d-Ribose as a Driver of Life’s Homochirality
Life demonstrates remarkable homochirality of its major building blocks: nucleic acids, amino acids, sugars, and phospholipids. Phospholipid bilayer vesicles (liposomes) are formed at the water/air interface from Langmuir layers and […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release
A Glimpse At The Origins Of Life Through A Deceptive Mirror
Imagine looking at yourself in the mirror, only to find that your reflection is governed by different laws than you are: Identical movements produce different outcomes, and what seems like […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Commercial & Private Sector, Cubesats and smallsats, Microbiology & Virology, Microgravity, Missions & Hardware, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Radiation, Space Life Science, Status Report
Development and Demonstration of a Modular Astrobiological Experiments (MAEx) Payload for Autonomous Biological Monitoring in Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
The spaceflight environment presents unique physicochemical conditions, including microgravity, ionizing radiation, altered fluid transport, and confined engineered habitats, which influence biological systems and biomolecular assembly processes.
![Magnetite formation under prebiotically plausible conditions. a Envisioned evaporative lake setting on early Earth, where magnetite likely formed via authigenic precipitation facilitated either by solar irradiation or nitrogen oxide from the decomposition of abiotic nitrogen fixation products [62]. As these magnetite particles form, they acquire a natural remanent magnetization under the geomagnetic field. b Experimental setup used to reproduce early Earth conditions and investigate magnetite formation under UV-facilitated synthesis (samples UV1 to UV3) and c via nitrite oxidation of Fe(II) (samples NUV8 and NUV9). Samples NUV5 to NUV7 were synthesized by mixing Fe(II) and Fe(III) with different proportions (10%/90%, 50%/50% and 90%/10% of Fe(II)/Fe(III), respectively). -- physics.chem-ph](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Prebiotic-magnetite.png?resize=1200%2C721&ssl=1)
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Prebiotic Magnetite Enables Chirality-magnetic Surface Feedback
The emergence of biomolecular homochirality requires both an initial symmetry-breaking event and a mechanism to amplify and preserve a chiral imbalance.
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Deep-time Consistency In Proteome Elemental Composition Across Cellular And Viral Life
Proteins are constructed from a limited alphabet of ~20 amino acids, yet the origins and selection of this specific alphabet are unresolved.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Charge-Selective Adsorption Of Organic Molecules In Microfluidic Mg(OH)2 Precipitate Membranes
The porous mineral structures of alkaline hydrothermal vent chimneys have been proposed as natural concentrators of dissolved organic molecules, potentially addressing the longstanding dilution problem in deep-sea origin-of-life hypotheses.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Membrane Information Organization At The Origin Of Life: From Interfaces To Informational Bodies
Membranes are usually treated as passive containers in origin-of-life models, confining prebiotic chemistry, buffering diffusion, and sustaining gradients.
Posted inCaves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report
Physiological Trade-offs Drive The archaeal Dominance And Carbon Turnover In Deep Subsurface
Marine sediments host a vast deep biosphere, yet how microorganisms persist under severe energy limitation and govern long-term organic carbon (OC) preservation remains poorly understood.