[q-bio.BM] The last five-plus years have seen many protein engineering disciplines transformed by advances in machine learning (ML), but the same cannot be said for directed evolution.
Nanotechnology
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics
ExMODE: A Comprehensive Resource For Extremophile Genomic And Functional Exploration
[iMetaOmics] ExMODE (https://db.genomics.cn/exmode/) integrates 3518 samples to build a unified extremophile resource, which hosts 1.35 billion habitat-specific non-redundant genes, 5.25 million representative protein structures, 67,026 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs), and 164,132 […]
Posted inImaging & Spectroscopy
Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of Planetary Materials Using Laser Deposited Plasmonic Gold Nanoparticles
[x-mol.net] This work demonstrates a surface-enhanced raman spectroscopy (SERS) approach based on laser deposition of Au plasmonic nanoparticles onto several relevant mineral surfaces. A pulsed 1064 nm wavelength laser is […]
![Photographs of the mineral and inorganic substrates used in this study and the corresponding hybrid materials obtained. -- [Nature]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Synthesis.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Synthesis Of Mineral-organic Hybrid Materials Under Dynamic Prebiotic Conditions
[Nature] The increasing of molecular complexity must be understood as a planetary phenomenon where prebiotic chemistry and geological settings converge. In this scene, HCN chemistry may have played a crucial […]
![Selection on a collective trait drives the origin of heredity. (A) Intracellular 5 competition drives the dominance of the red plasmid when fluorescence is enforced (left-hand panel) while poor inheritance and carriage costs purge the ancestral plasmid population entirely when no selective gate is used (right-hand panel). Coloured zones show the proportion of the population in each colour class through 21 cycles: red only, green only, yellow (red plus green), white (cells without fluorescence). -- [biorxiv.org]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Forging.png?resize=1200%2C718&ssl=1)
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics
Forging An Evolutionary Individual From Separate Replicators
[biorxiv.org] A central puzzle in the evolution of individuality is the origin of heredity. Egalitarian transitions integrate formerly independent replicators into a higher-level individual, but this requires the collective to […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry
Chemically Modified Sugars As Multifunctional Precursors For Direct, Template-Free Synthesis Of Nanoporous Carbonaceous Materials
[JACS] Carbonaceous solids with pores in the nanometer domain are of great technological importance owing to their amenability to sorption/separation, catalysis, and electrochemical applications.
![Snapshots of the system 1 ps after the initial contact of the nanograins for different initial velocities. Atom colour key indicates hydrogen: white; carbon: dark gray; oxygen: red; silicon: beige; and magnesium: green. -- [astro-ph.GA]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/When-Two-Worlds.png?resize=1200%2C715&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry
When Two Worlds Collide: How Collisions Between Silicate and Carbonaceous Nanograins can Drive Complex Chemistry
[astro-ph.GA] Our overall objective is to determine how collision velocity governs the interactions between silicate and carbonaceous nanograins. (astrochemistry)
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Intelligence & Language, Interstellar, Nanotechnology & SynBio, SETI & Technosignatures
Micron-Scale Technosignatures: How a Cubic Metre of Lunar Regolith May Begin to Constrain the Number of Past Technological Civilisations in the Galaxy
[astro-ph.EP] Building on Arkhipov’s proposal that technogenic artefacts may survive natural interstellar transport and accumulate on airless Solar System bodies, we examine the prospects for identifying micron-scale engineered particulate material […]
Posted inNanotechnology & SynBio
Ecological Constraints To Mirror Life
[bioRxiv] Our biosphere exhibits remarkable diversity yet is constrained by universal organizational principles, including molecular homochirality.
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Directing Open-Ended Evolution in Artificial Life via Multi-Scale Path Divergence
Open-ended evolution (OEE) in artificial life is typically driven by uninterpretable, black-box neural-network complexity metrics, leaving life-like systems disconnected from physical theories of complexity.