Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, possesses a dense N2–CH4 atmosphere driving complex organic chemistry. The interplay among photochemistry, aerosol formation, organic cloud condensation, and surface deposition makes Titan a natural laboratory […]
biochemistry
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Status Report
An Organics-forward Approach To Searching For Life On Mars
The modern Martian surface is cold, dry, oxidizing, and perpetually bombarded with radiation, rendering it generally inhospitable to life as we know it.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, People Of Astrobiology, Status Report
Liquid–liquid Phase Separation As A Driver Of Abiogenesis And Evolution
The origin of life may have emerged through physical mechanisms that enable molecular organization and self-assembly. Building on Alexander Oparin’s concept of coacervate droplets, liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) offers a […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors
Elemental Stoichiometry As An Ecological Biosignature With Applications To Life Detection
The vast chemical space of possible small molecules, estimated at 1060 compounds for molecules composed of just C, N, O, and S, is only sparsely occupied by biology.
Posted inAI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Commercial & Private Sector, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Artificial Intelligence Aided Design Of Peptides With Custom Secondary Structure Motifs And Reduced Amino Acid Alphabets
Proteins are highly diverse functional polymers where the specific sequence of amino acids, selected from a standard genetically-encoded alphabet of twenty (C20), determines the structure and ultimately the function of […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
What It Takes To Solve The Origins Of Life: An Integrated Review. Part 1 Experimental Methods And Data Repositories
The origin(s) of life (OoL), which has puzzled scientists for centuries, remains a major scientific challenge in the 21st century.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Sample Return, Status Report
Analytical Characterization Approaches to Measure Prebiotically Relevant Compounds in High Salinity Impact-Induced Hydrothermal Systems
Experiments exploring potential emergence-of-life chemistry in a laboratory setting critically depend on simulating realistic early-Earth environments. Such experimental conditions include the implementation of controlled high temperatures and pressures, anoxic gas […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
Tracing The Sulfur Depletion In Starless And Pre-stellar Cores
Sulfur is one of the most abundant elements in the Universe, yet the sulfur budget inferred from the observed sulfur-bearing molecules in dense cores is significantly lower than expected.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Evolutionary Origin Of The Bipartite Architecture Of Dissipative Cellular Networks
Recently, plenty research has been done on discovering the role of energy dissipation in biological networks, most of which focus on the relationship of dissipation and functionality.
Posted inAI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Press Release
StructureMASST: A Search Engine For The Chemistry Of Earth Life
Editor’s note: As we expand outward from Earth to other worlds we are almost certainly going to encounter things we did not expect to find – things that are unlikely […]