Institute of Science Tokyo Archives - Astrobiology

This study identified a chemical pathway promoted by naturally occurring minerals that explains how hydrogen cyanide might have formed on early Earth. Credit Institute of Science Tokyo

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Shedding Light On How Hydrogen Cyanide Formed On Early Earth

by Keith CowingMay 5, 2026May 5, 2026

Manganese dioxide can convert amino acids into hydrogen cyanide (HCN) without requiring methane, solving a long-standing puzzle about the origin of this key prebiotic molecule on early Earth, as reported […]

The concept behind the model is simple: life can travel to and terraform planets around other stars. In doing so, the planet that life travels to becomes more similar to the planet it came from. In this example, life from a planet resembling Earth travels to a red planet. The process plays out again and again. Each time, after being terraformed, a planet becomes more "Earth-like" than would be expected from random chance, given the locations of the planets. However, the focus is not on identifying Earth-like planets. Instead, the aim is to identify any group of planets that are more similar to each other than would be expected by chance, and are localised in space. This technique is agnostic: it does not require making assumptions about habitability or passing judgment on the "kinds of planets" that are amenable to life. -- Institute of Science Tokyo

Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Panspermia, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release, Terraforming & Geoengineering

Terraforming/Panspermia: A New Way To Detect Life Beyond Earth Without Knowing What Life Looks Like

by Keith CowingApril 16, 2026

A research team of Specially Appointed Associate Professor Harrison B. Smith of Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Institute of Science Tokyo and Specially Appointed Associate Professor Lana Sinapayen of National […]

A Overlay of the base binding pockets of MAN (AlphaFold3 structure AF-A0A2T5C445-F1-v4)77 and CHU (PDB ID 6AN9)19. Conserved residues other than H118, R117, and N138 that mediate binding are not drawn. Sequence differences in the primary base binding pocket are drawn as cyan and magenta sticks for CHU and MAN, respectively. Sequence differences involving residues that point away from the base binding pocket and were not characterized further are shown as yellow sticks. AF3 models of MAN bound to all four nucleotides are presented in Supplementary Fig. 10. Additional sequence information can be found in Fig. 1C. B Characterization of position 138. Note that activities are normalized to MAN activity, indicated by the fuchsia outer ring. C Characterization of base binding site chimeras. Refer to the main text for more details. D Overlay of the polyphosphate binding track, following the coloring conventions in (A). E Characterization of polyphosphate binding site chimera. C and E report the percentage of NTP production. Plotted values are the average of 4 independent runs. Error bars are standard deviations. Source data for this figure is available in the Source Data file. 00 Institute of Science Tokyo

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Press Release

Discovery Of A Universal Enzyme That Makes All Four Nucleotide Building Blocks Of Life

by Keith CowingApril 15, 2026April 15, 2026

A bacterial enzyme called universal PPK2 may simplify and lower the cost of RNA synthesis.

(A) In modern lifeforms, cellular traits and functions are controlled by genetic information encoded in DNA sequences. Mutations generate sequence diversity, and when this diversity leads to differences in fitness, natural selection enriches variants with higher fitness in the next generation. (B) At the earliest stage of life, the “evolution” of primordial cells was likely far simpler. Diversity in molecular composition would have directly shaped protocell behavior through their physicochemical properties, allowing molecules with advantageous traits to be preferentially retained. Such composition-driven selection may have formed a primitive basis for evolutionary change. Credit Tatsuya Shinoda & Natsumi Noda, ELSI

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

How Early Cell Membranes May Have Shaped The Origins Of Life

by Keith CowingJanuary 22, 2026January 22, 2026

Modern cells are complex chemical entities with cytoskeletons, finely regulated internal and external molecules, and genetic material that determines nearly every aspect of their functioning. This complexity allows cells to […]

A panoramic picture of one of five hot springs during winter, showing the source water and CO2 bubbles. Credit Fatima Li-Hau, ELSI

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Hot Springs In Japan Give Insight Into Ancient Microbial Life On Earth

by Keith CowingSeptember 26, 2025September 26, 2025

Earth was not always the blue-green world we know today: the early Earth’s oxygen levels were about a million times lower than we now experience. There were no forests and […]

Polarisation microscopy analyses reveal that tartrate in the calcium tartrate crystals had no chirality preference. Credit Chen Chen

Astrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release

How Calcium May Have Unlocked The Origins Of Life’s Molecular Asymmetry

by Keith CowingMarch 28, 2025March 28, 2025

A new study led by researchers at the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Institute of Science Tokyo has uncovered a surprising role for calcium in shaping life’s earliest molecular structures. […]

Polyester microdroplets, possible precursors to life, were formed from alpha-hydroxy acids (αHAs) in early Earth-like conditions even at low reaction volume, low reactant concentrations, and/or high NaCl or KCl concentrations. Credit Associate Professor Tony Z. Jia from Institute of Science Tokyo

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

How Life’s Building Blocks Took Shape On Early Earth: The Limits of Membraneless Polyester Protocell Formation

by Keith CowingFebruary 6, 2025February 6, 2025

One leading theory on the origins of life on Earth proposes that simple chemical molecules gradually became more complex, ultimately forming protocells—primitive, non-living structures that were precursors of modern cells.