genomics Archives

Mariana Trench slope viewed through a Human-Occupied Vehicle (HOV) window. Credit BGI Research

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The Deep Sea Is An Untapped Evolutionary Engine Says New Study

by Keith CowingJune 11, 2026June 11, 2026

Editor’s note: As we expand outward from Earth to other worlds we are almost certainly going to encounter things we did not expect to find – things that are unlikely […]

The contentious role of RNA in early evolution. The arrow represents the evolutionary trajectory from protobiology to the biological cell, with Protogenetics and the RNA-World as critical intermediary stages. The RNA-First paradigm implicitly assumes not only that RNA was fundamental to the emergence of genetic material but that the protobiological stage itself was already dominated by RNA chemistry, which this essay argues is incompatible with the combinatorial vastness of abiotic environments. -- Life

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report

The RNA-First Fallacy: Conflating Evolutionary Ancestry with Prebiotic Primacy

by Keith CowingJune 11, 2026June 11, 2026

The RNA-World hypothesis remains the most widely accepted framework in origins-of-life research, anchored in compelling biochemical evidence for RNA’s deep evolutionary ancestry. However, this viewpoint routinely extends beyond that and […]

Artist's impression of a Edicaran animal community. Credit Hugo Salais

Fossils & Paleontology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

A Lack Of Sex Held Back Life’s Diversity For Millions Of Years

by Keith CowingJune 10, 2026

The way that Earth’s first animals reproduced held back life’s diversity for millions of years, until stress and competition led to the development of sexual reproduction, which in turn accelerated […]

A small pond in an otherwise barren landsape on Early Earth with something alive within. Grok via Astrobiology.com

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report

Rethinking the Last Universal Common Ancestor of Life: Network Convergence and the Root of the Tree

by Keith CowingJune 9, 2026June 10, 2026

The tree of life is rooted at the “origin of life.” One model holds that core biochemistry, which includes the genetic code, the ribosome, biopolymer backbones, and amino acid and […]

An early location of life on Earth -- Grok via Astrobiology.com

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report

Assessing the Earliest Evidence for Life in the Geologic and Genomic Records

by Keith CowingJune 3, 2026June 3, 2026

Both the geologic and genomic records provide information on the earliest history of terrestrial life.

Cell Science-04 flies tardigrades, or water bears, to the space station for a study seeking to identify the genes involved in its adaptation and survival in high stress environments. Credits: Thomas Boothby, University of Wyoming via NASA

Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Radiation, Space Life Science, Status Report, Tardigrades

Tardigrades As An Emerging Model Animal For Astrobiology Research: A Case Study

by Keith CowingJune 2, 2026June 2, 2026

Tardigrades are extraordinarily resilient creatures, capable of withstanding radiation, extreme dehydration, temperature fluctuations, and even the vacuum of space, which makes them exemplary models for studying the viability of life […]

A simplified illustration of the model. It depicts a cross-section of a spherical phospholipid vesicle, highlighting its membrane with hydrophilic heads and hydrophobic tails. Racemic d- and l-ribose (green) can both penetrate the membrane and capture the PO groups, but d-ribose undergoes this process more quickly and is preferentially trapped (purple) inside the vesicle. --Life

Astrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Status Report

Stereoselective Phosphorylation of d-Ribose as a Driver of Life’s Homochirality

by Keith CowingJune 1, 2026June 1, 2026

Life demonstrates remarkable homochirality of its major building blocks: nucleic acids, amino acids, sugars, and phospholipids. Phospholipid bilayer vesicles (liposomes) are formed at the water/air interface from Langmuir layers and […]

Adsorption of crystals of a biological chiral molecule onto a gold-coated cobalt surface. Larger crystals of one specific form of the molecule (left) tend to accumulate on this surface to a greater degree than those of its mirror-image form (right). In the left image, the crystals reach heights of about 1.2 nm, whereas in the right image they do not exceed 0.8 nm. The physical advantage of one form over the other in accumulating on the magnetic surface suggests that, in a competitive setting, it would become the dominant (“winning”) form. -- Weizmann Institute of Science

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release

A Glimpse At The Origins Of Life Through A Deceptive Mirror

by Keith CowingMay 29, 2026May 29, 2026

Imagine looking at yourself in the mirror, only to find that your reflection is governed by different laws than you are: Identical movements produce different outcomes, and what seems like […]

Fossils & Paleontology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report

Synthetic Biology As An Empirical Tool For Evolutionary Theory

by Keith CowingMay 29, 2026May 29, 2026

Evolutionary biology has traditionally inferred process from patterns in extant organisms and the fossil record, leaving many foundational questions constrained by their historical nature.

Inferred subcellular organization in LECA, the last eukaryotic common ancestor, based on its estimated gene content. Credit Cell illustration adapted from multiple graphics shared as open source by SwissBioPics.

Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Scientists Reveal Disease Genes From Reconstruction Of Ancestor To All Complex Life

by Keith CowingMay 28, 2026May 28, 2026

A University of Texas at Austin-led team has reconstructed the most detailed map to date of the molecular machines that carried out the functions of life in an ancient ancestor […]