Life on Earth is more than 3.5 billion years old—nearly as old as the age of the planet. Over this vast expanse of time, life and its biomolecules adapted to […]
biorxiv.org
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Structural Enzymology, Phylogenetics, Differentiation, and Symbolic Reflexivity at the Dawn of Biology
The reflexive translation of symbols in one chemical language to another defined genetics. Yet, the co-linearity of codons and amino acids is so commonplace an idea that few even ask […]
Posted inAI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors
Machine Learning Used To Classify Fossils Of Extinct Pollen – Offworld Astrobiology Applications?
Editor’s note: when we begin to study inhabited worlds we are going to have to take a stab at something that has taken centuries on Earth: systematic classification of life […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report
Evaluation of Extraction Solvents for Untargeted Metabolomics to decipher the Dissolved Organic Matter of Antarctic Cryoconite Holes
Cryoconite holes are biological hotspots with a high biogeochemical turnover rate, contributing significantly to the glacial ecosystem’s overall carbon cycles and net fluxes.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
The Microbial Ecology of Serpentinites
Serpentinization, the collective set of geochemical reactions initiated by the hydration of ultramafic rock, has occurred throughout Earth history and is inferred to occur on several planets and moons in […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Status Report
Autocatalytic Assembly Of A Chimeric Aminoacyl-RNA Synthetase Ribozyme
Autocatalytic reactions driving the self-assembly of biological polymers are important for the origin of life, yet few experimental examples of such reactions exist.
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report
CABO-16S: A Combined Archaea, Bacteria, Organelle 16S Database for Amplicon Analysis of Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes in Environmental Samples
Identification of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms in environmental samples is currently challenged by either the burden of additional sequencing required to obtain both 16S and 18S rRNA sequences or […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Coenzyme-Protein Interactions Since Early Life
Recent findings in protein evolution and peptide prebiotic plausibility have been setting the stage for reconsidering the role of peptides in the early stages of life’s origin.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
RNA World: Overcoming Nucleotide Bias In The Nonenzymatic Copying Of RNA Templates
The RNA World hypothesis posits that RNA was the molecule of both heredity and function during the emergence of life.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Microgravity, Status Report
A Structural Perspective on the Temperature-dependent Activity of Enzymes
Enzymes are biomolecular catalysts whose activity varies with temperature. Unlike for small-molecule catalysts, the structural ensembles of enzymes can vary substantially with temperature, and it is in general unclear how […]