Ichnofossils in basaltic glass are putative microscopic trace fossils occurring on modern seafloor and throughout Earth history. While their biological origin remains debated, it is unknown why microorganisms thrive in […]
Sources and sinks of methane within an advanced serpentinization-influenced system were investigated at the Coast Range Ophiolite Microbial Observatory (CROMO) in Lower Lake, California. Subsurface water-rock reactions at CROMO contribute […]
Building blocks of life such as amino acids, nucleobases, and fatty acids are central to prebiotic chemistry and represent key targets in the search for planetary biosignatures. In planetary materials, […]
Meteor impacts may have helped spark life on Earth, creating hot, chemical-rich environments where the first living cells could take shape, according to research integrated by a recent Rutgers University […]
As human space exploration expands to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, there is a growing need to study the effects of altered gravity on the microbial systems that we will […]
Exploration of oxygen-depleted marine environments has consistently revealed novel microbial taxa and metabolic capabilities that expand our understanding of microbial evolution and ecology.
Pushing back the detection limits, technological advances are now allowing the detection and analysis of very low content DNA samples. A so far unseen diversity of microbes emerges sometimes filling […]
Synthetic living constructs, which lack the long histories of selection in ecological contexts that shape behaviors of conventional organisms, offer an important complement to traditional studies of learning.
Vertical transmission of marine particles brings ocean surface cyanobacteria into the deep ocean, where heterotrophic cyanobacterial lineages probably evolve to adapt to new environments even in oxygen-depleted zones.
Space-based platforms currently represent the most accurate means to experimentally assess the influence of the space environment on biological systems. However, performing such experiments remains technically challenging and requires highly […]
