[biorxiv.org] A defining feature of living systems is the high local concentration of diverse molecular components within membrane-bounded compartments.
biophysics
Posted inBiophysics
Water As We’ve Never Known It: Testing Water Beyond Earth-like Conditions
[UNLV] Water isn’t always as it seems. Under extreme conditions, such as those found on other planets, it has been discovered to change its atomic structure, giving it the means […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry
Chaos To Coordination: Vibrating Material Organizes Itself Into A Single Rhythm
[University of Birmingham] Scientists have developed a material that can grow and coordinate its own movement until the entire structure pulses in unison, paving the way for versatile robots that […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Computational Modeling Of An RNA-peptide World
[biorxiv.org] Emergence and evolution of functional RNA and protein structures are the central problems for understanding the origin of life.
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
New Study Pinpoints When Early Earth May Have Become Ready for Life’s Chemistry
[PSI] Conditions on the early Earth may have become stable enough to sustain the chemistry associated with the origins of life around 4.33 billion years ago, according to new research […]
Posted inBiophysics
Balance Between Order and Disorder: Quantum-Epigenetic Pathways for the Emergence and Continuous Evolution of Life
[Acta Biotheoretica] The scientific restlessness surrounding the question of what life is (expressed in the provocations of Feynman and Schrödinger) guides this review article by integrating physics, chemistry, and biology […]
Posted inBiophysics
How A Deep-sea Protein Adapts To An Extreme Environment
[Kyushu University] Life in the deep sea is under immense pressure—literally. Such extreme conditions can disrupt the delicate structures of proteins essential to life. Yet somehow, the proteins in deep-sea […]
![Bold black letters illustrate amino acids that are deduced as early by the approach, while red letters indicate late additions to the alphabet according to the approach (C* implies possible prebiotic synthesis under specific and narrow conditions [4]). Regular black letters represent amino acids that have not been resolved as either early or late by the approach. LUCA: last universal common ancestor; LECA: last eukaryotic common ancestor; rTCA: tricarboxylic acid cycle. -- Trends in Genetics](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Reconstructing.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics
Reconstructing Ancient Protein Alphabets: What Can We Truly Infer?
[Trends in Genetics] The canonical amino acid alphabet has remained remarkably stable since life’s early stages, yet the factors that shaped its emergence remain debated. Early views emphasized prebiotic availability […]
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics
Pinpointing Where Cells First Begin Copying DNA
[Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Medical Sciences] Every time a cell divides, it must faithfully copy its entire genetic instruction manual. Errors during this process can damage the genome, […]
Posted inAstrochemistry
ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey (ACES) I: Overview
[astro-ph.GA] The mass flows and energy cycles within the inner regions of galaxies exert a powerful influence on the evolution of the galaxy population.