![Distribution and protein structures of ancestral energy conservation enzymes in bacteria and archaea. For escape as free-living cells, metabolism had to achieve the state of a balanced stoichiometric reaction145, called redox balance in physiology, and the exergonic reactions of electron transfer from H2 to CO2 needed to be coupled to the pumping of ions from the inside of the cell to the outside (chemiosmotic coupling), as in modern cells. Prior to the coupling of CO2 reduction to ion pumping, the natural pH gradient provided by serpentinizing systems (pH 9–11, vs. sea water (pH 6.5146) was harnessable with the help of simple, abiotically synthesized hydrophobics147,148 such as fatty acids, which were recently shown to support the ATP-synthesizing function of a rotor-stator ATPase149. -- [q-bio.PE]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Intermediate.png?resize=1200%2C721&ssl=1)
[q-bio.PE] The origin of life required the emergence of metabolism, an autocatalytic network of enzymatic reactions that synthesize amino acids, nucleotides and cofactors. At the origin of metabolism there were […]
genomics
Posted inCryobiology
Ancient Marine Life May Be Hiding In Antarctica’s Blood Falls
[Scripps/JCVI] Blood Falls has long been one of Antarctica’s strangest landmarks: a red-stained outflow that spills from the face of Taylor Glacier into the cold, dry landscape of the McMurdo […]
![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 […]
2026 LIFE NASA RCN Seminar: Sara Imari Walker and L. Felipe Benites
Zoom: Join the 2026 LIFE NASA RCN Seminar Series Title: Quantitative Prebiotic Chemistry and Defining the Abiotic Baseline Reveals why RNA may be unique to Earth Dr. Sara Imari Walker is an […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Two Origins Of Life
[Heinrich-Heine University Duesseldorf] How and where did the first forms of life arise? These are the main questions driving research at the Institute of Molecular Evolution at Heinrich Heine University […]
Posted inMicrobiology & Virology
Offworld Microbiology: Staphylococcus Aureus Biofilm Studies
[NASA] Preflight image of Syto9 staining of Staphylococcus aureus biofilm as part of ODYSSEY, an investigation that evaluates biofilm formation and exchange of genetic material among two species of bacteria […]
![Time evolution for two morphological dynamics in PISA specimens: (a) gelation takes place in an oxygen-poor PISA specimen, (b) “Phoenix” dynamics take place in the oxygen-rich PISA specimen (Adapted with permission from reference [19]).-- [Life]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Degradation.png?resize=1200%2C718&ssl=1)
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Degradation, Osmosis and the Emergence of Basic Functionalities in Abiotic Synthetic Life-like Chemical Systems
[Life] Autonomous and interconnected multiscale out-of-equilibrium processes, including chemical and physical feedbacks, occur at the micron and lower scales during the heterotrophic synthesis of simple abiotic protocells, such as the […]
![Representation of the functional cycle (Funktionskreis) capturing the structural coherence between the living system and the assimilated environment, showing the analog coding processes operating in perception of external signals and in signal transduction, and the digital coding processes operating in the system's self-maintenance and reproduction. -- [BioSystems]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Codepoietic.png?resize=1200%2C716&ssl=1)
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life
Codepoietic Biological Evolution: From The Origin Of Life To Eukaryogenesis
[BioSystems]. Evolution is an intrinsic property of autopoietic systems performing natural computation, which is based on an internal formal self-description representing the arrangement of digital and analog coding structures.
![Schematic illustration of the non-spatial Hash Chemistry model (from [16], with modification). - -[q-bio.PE]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Hash-Chemistry.png?resize=1200%2C717&ssl=1)
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Hash Chemistry: Minimal Models for Evolutionary Growth of Complexity
[q-bio.PE] Hash Chemistry is a family of minimalistic evolutionary models in which a deterministic hash function assigns a scalar score to entities of arbitrary size, opening a combinatorially vast possibility […]
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine
Molecular Evidence For A Relict Marine Community In An Antarctic Dry Valleys Subglacial Brine-fed System
[Nature] The McMurdo Dry Valleys contain a mosaic of specialized microbial habitats structured by strong physical and chemical gradients.