microdroplets Archives - Astrobiology

Polyester microdroplets (Credit: Tony Z. Jia)

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

The Versatility Of Lactic Acid In The Origin Of Membraneless Protocells At The Origins Of Life

by Keith CowingMay 1, 2025May 1, 2025

Lactic acid is not only a major byproduct of primitive synthetic processes such as spark discharge or UV irradiation, it also is a significant player in modern biology.

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. […]

Water droplets from crashing waves on early Earth -- Grok via Astrobiology.com

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Microlightning In Water Droplets May Have Sparked Life On Earth

by Keith CowingMarch 15, 2025March 15, 2025

Life may not have begun with a dramatic lightning strike into the ocean but from many smaller “microlightning” exchanges among water droplets from crashing waterfalls or breaking waves.

Droplet bioreactors demonstrating chemical communication. (A) Schematic of enzyme cascade in droplets and the corresponding droplet-to-droplet chemical communication. (B) Confocal micrographs showing the time evolution of resorufin fluorescence (red channel) in PDDA-ATP coacervate droplets with CF488-GOx (green channel) and CF640-HRP (blue channel) enzymes as cargo. Glucose and amplex red were introduced into the solution surrounding the droplets, and the resultant resorufin fluorescence first appeared in HRP droplets (merged channel color change from blue to purple to pink) and then in GOx (color change from green to yellow) droplets. Scale bars, 30 μm. A set of images from another independent trial of the same experiment are shown in fig. S7, where similar features were found. (C) A plot of time evolution of resorufin fluorescence intensity in stabilized droplets during enzyme catalysis. For each time point, normalized intensity corresponds to area fraction of HRP (or Gox) protocell covered by resorufin fluorescence, n = 4 images were analyzed, and error bars represent SDs. Science via PubMed

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

Did The Exposure Of Coacervate Droplets To Rain Make Them The First Stable Protocells?

by Keith CowingOctober 30, 2024October 30, 2024

Membraneless coacervate microdroplets have long been proposed as model protocells as they can grow, divide, and concentrate RNA by natural partitioning.

Spontaneous pattern formation in a three-phase system (PEG+DEX+gelatin) within a PEG-coated glass capillary. The compositions of the PEG/DEX/gelatin are (i) 4.2 wt %/3.3 wt %/5.0 wt %; (ii) 3.9 wt %/3.1 wt %/4.7 wt %; (iii) 3.6 wt %/2.9 wt %/4.3 wt %. The red, green, and black (no fluorescence) regions correspond to the DEX- (labeled with TRITC-dextran), gelatin- (labeled with FITC-I) and PEG-rich phases, respectively. White dashed lines indicate the position of the inner glass wall. (a) Snapshots of the solution inside the capillary (inner diameter: 140 μm, 280 μm) at the different times. (b) Spatiotemporal plot of (a). (c) Macroscopic phase separation of the PEG/DEX/gelatin solution in bulk. The composition of the PEG/DEX/gelatin is 4.2 wt %/3.3 wt %/5.0 wt %. Upper: Before centrifugation (at 60 °C in the incubator and for 20 min after mixing the solution); Lower: After centrifugation for 1 min (3000 rpm). The top, middle, and bottom phases correspond to the PEG-, gelatin-, and DEX-rich phases, respectively. The right panels show the fluorescence microscopy of the top (PEG-rich) phase on the glass slide. -- ACS/Doshisha University

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Self-emergence Of Stational Periodic Arrangement Of Dual Microdroplets Through Quasi One-dimensional Confinement

by Keith CowingMarch 20, 2024

Polymer systems composed of multiple components can spontaneously induce emulsion or microdroplets by mechanical mixing, as an intermediate state of macroscopic phase separation.

polyester polymerization

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Polyester Chemistry Highlights Possible Role Of Microdroplets In Ihe Origin Of Life

by Keith CowingOctober 18, 2022October 18, 2022

Scientists have long been fascinated with the origin of life on Earth, namely the transition from simple pre-biotic organic molecules to living cell systems.