[biorxiv.org] Meteorite impact structures on earth represent unique terrestrial analogues of extreme planetary environments where fractured lithologies, hydrothermal alteration, elevated concentrations of radionuclides, and prolonged water-rock interactions create ecological niches […]
biorxiv.org
Posted inExploration Gear & Tech
Looking Inside Living Antarctic Cells For The First Time
[British Antarctic Survey] Cambridge engineers have built the first microscope to see inside living cells in sub-zero conditions, revealing secrets of Antarctic fish survival.
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Selection For Propagule Formation In Prebiotic Chemical Ecosystems
[biorxiv.org] Biological individuals on Earth today are cellular, but the simplest cells are too complex to have arisen spontaneously.
Posted inNomenclature, Systematics, Natural History
Viruses, Proviruses and Satellites from Asgard Archaea Enrichments Reveal Complex Microbial Interactions
[biorxiv.org] Asgard archaea are the closest known relatives of eukaryotes and are central to models of eukaryogenesis involving archaeal–bacterial symbiosis, yet the contribution of viruses remains unexplored.
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Prebiotic Cationic Amino Acids Support Formation Of An Ancient Protein Fold
[biorxiv.org] The evolutionary basis for the selection of the standard proteinogenic amino acids remains elusive, particularly for the long cationic amino acids, lysine and arginine, which were likely scarce in […]
![Graphical abstract -- [biorxiv.org]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/tinyRNA-seq.png?resize=1200%2C717&ssl=1)
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics
tinyRNA-seq: An Optimized Approach To Sequencing Tiny RNAs And Primitive RNA Genomes
[biorxiv.org] Very short RNAs play critical roles in modern biology, and are thought to have been crucial for genome replication during the origin of life.
![Selection on a collective trait drives the origin of heredity. (A) Intracellular 5 competition drives the dominance of the red plasmid when fluorescence is enforced (left-hand panel) while poor inheritance and carriage costs purge the ancestral plasmid population entirely when no selective gate is used (right-hand panel). Coloured zones show the proportion of the population in each colour class through 21 cycles: red only, green only, yellow (red plus green), white (cells without fluorescence). -- [biorxiv.org]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Forging.png?resize=1200%2C718&ssl=1)
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics
Forging An Evolutionary Individual From Separate Replicators
[biorxiv.org] A central puzzle in the evolution of individuality is the origin of heredity. Egalitarian transitions integrate formerly independent replicators into a higher-level individual, but this requires the collective to […]
![a) Biological evolution as stochastic optimization: Initially, wild-type cells x grow up a population. A mutant y grows up a population. The populations x and y compete. The winner (greater population) then fetches more resources. Fitness landscapes at the bottom show how the mutant is an experiment, where the winner decides the next step direction. b) Evolution annotated in terms of the Central Dogma: (Left, green) Wildtype starting point, NA encodes PR, which gives fitness F. (Top, red), Mutation in the blueprint NA, becoming NA’. (Red, green) both NA sequences grow up into populations. (Next) The populations compete for fitness. The winner, Fx now carries with it the winning sequence NAx and protein P Rx. -- [biorxiv.org]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/RNA-And-Proteins.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
RNA And Proteins Joined Up At The Origins Of Life: Persistence Is The Point
[biorxiv.org] What drove nucleic acids (NA) to associate with proteins (PR) at the Origins of Life? We reason from polymer physics and the Central Dogma (CD) that the fitness value […]
Posted inUncategorized
Hydrothermal Origin Of Metabolic Phosphorylation
Phosphate is central to modern bioenergetics and to all theories for the origin of life. How phosphate entered metabolism is unknown, though microbial physiology and geochemical environments can provide important […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Metal-catalyzed Phosphorylation By Phosphite At The Origin Of Bioenergetics
How did phosphate become the universal energetic currency of life? Traditional approaches to phosphorylation in early evolution studies entail oven drying, non-aqueous solvents, dangerously reactive forms of phosphorus, or other […]