A Danish amber collector’s find upon a wild North Sea shore in the 1960’s has proved to be of great and surprising significance. After having thoroughly examining the roughly 40-million-year-old […]
DNA
![Coupled bilayer nanopore concept for physical guiding, tracking and sizing of single molecules a, Fabrication schematic including EBL, etching, 2D materials transfer and AC-STEM sculpting. SiN nanopores constitute a GURU platform. Pore thicknesses are tSiN and t2D, diameters are dSiN and d2D and the total thickness is tGURU. Device configurations are denoted as [N, M] for N SiN pores and M 2D pores. σSiN and σ2D denote surface charge densities of SiN and 2D pores, respectively. The interlayer separation, L, can be experimentally controlled by the duration of RIE. -- Nature](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Tricorder-Tech-Novel-Coupled-Nanopore.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors
Tricorder Tech: Novel Coupled Nanopore Platform Offers Greater Precision For Detecting Molecules
Editor’s note: As we begin to expand our search for life to other worlds we are going to need to be economical interms of the equipment we send and how […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Press Release
A New Biochemistry For RNA At Low Temperatures
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a biological molecule with crucial functions in the genetics of organisms and plays a key role in the origin and evolution of life. With a composition […]
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 inExploration Gear & Tech, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Missions & Hardware, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors
Tricorder Tech: Revealing DNA Behavior In Record Time
“DNA, RNA and proteins are the key players to regulate all processes in the cells of our body,” Leiden Professor John van Noort explains. “To understand the (mis-)functioning of these […]
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release
Modern Immunity And Ancient Microbes
When you get infected with a virus, some of the first weapons your body deploys to fight it were passed down to us from our microbial ancestors billions of years […]
![Rapid coalescence and RNA exchange between unstable protocells. (A) Schematic of preparation of coacervate model protocells. Aqueous solutions of PDDA (positively charged) and ATP (negatively charged) are mixed, along with fluorescently labeled protein or oligonucleotide molecules, to make fluorescently distinct protocell populations. (B and C) Confocal micrographs showing the coalescence of unstable protocells during mixing. Fluorescently distinct PDDA-ATP droplet populations containing fluorophore-labeled BSA or RNA were mixed, and the images were collected after 5 min. Coalescence is evident from the overlapping of red [CF488-BSA in (B) or Cy2-RNA-6nt in (C)] and blue (CF640-BSA) fluorescence in a majority of the droplets. Scale bars, 25 μm. (D and E) Confocal micrographs and the accompanying FRAP plot showing a fast (timescale of a few minutes) recovery of fluorescence from Cy2-labeled RNA of (D) 6 nt in length and (E) 49 nt in length in the photobleached droplets, suggesting a rapid exchange of RNA molecules between protocells. The fluorescence microscopy images are false colored for clarity. Scale bars, 25 μm. -- Science / UChicago](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/New-Research-Suggests-Rainwater.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
New Research Suggests Rainwater Helped Form The First Protocell Walls
One of the major unanswered questions about the origin of life is how droplets of RNA floating around the primordial soup turned into the membrane-protected packets of life we call […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Status Report
Self‐Replication Without Hydrogen‐Bonds: An Exobiotic Design
Life on Earth uses DNA as the central template for self‐replication, genetic encoding, and information transfer.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
What Gave The First Molecules Their Stability?
The origins of life remain a major mystery. How were complex molecules able to form and remain intact for prolonged periods without disintegrating? A team at ORIGINS, a Munich-based Cluster […]
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Microgravity, Radiation, Space Life Science, Space Stations, Status Report
Offworld Biology: Rotifer-B2 Preflight Imagery
Preflight image of the Rotifer-B2 experiment container. The Rotifer-B2 investigation aims to explore the effects that spaceflight has on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) repair mechanisms of the bdelloid rotifer Adineta vaga.