Self-organization in complex systems is a process in which randomness is reduced and emergent structures appear that allow the system to function in a more competitive way with other states […]
origin of life
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Origins Of life: The Protein Folding Problem All Over Again?
How did specific useful protein sequences arise from simpler molecules at the origin of life? This seemingly needle-in-a-haystack problem has remarkably close resemblance to the old Protein Folding Problem, for […]
Posted inAstrobiology (general), Astrochemistry, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Nature’s Missing Evolutionary Law Identified
Darwin applied the theory of evolution to life on earth, but not to other massively complex systems like planets, stars, atoms and minerals. Now, an interdisciplinary group of researchers has […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Metal Ions Turn On A Stereoselective Nonenzymatic Reduction Of Keto Acids By The Coenzyme NADH
Coenzymes are thought to have played a central role in the emergence of metabolism. However, studies in the context of prebiotic chemistry face the problem that outside of enzymes, many […]
Posted inAI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Commercial & Private Sector, Intelligence & Language, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Hydrogel Material Shows Unexpected Learning Abilities: It Learned To Play ‘Pong’
In a study published today (22 August) in Cell Reports Physical Science, a team led by Dr Yoshikatsu Hayashi demonstrated that a simple hydrogel – a type of soft, flexible […]
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release
An Earthling The Size Of A Dust Grain Found Hiding In California’s Mono Lake
Mono Lake in the Eastern Sierra Nevada is known for its towering tufa formations, abundant brine shrimp and black clouds of alkali flies uniquely adapted to the salty, arsenic- and […]
![Rapid coalescence and RNA exchange between unstable protocells. (A) Schematic of preparation of coacervate model protocells. Aqueous solutions of PDDA (positively charged) and ATP (negatively charged) are mixed, along with fluorescently labeled protein or oligonucleotide molecules, to make fluorescently distinct protocell populations. (B and C) Confocal micrographs showing the coalescence of unstable protocells during mixing. Fluorescently distinct PDDA-ATP droplet populations containing fluorophore-labeled BSA or RNA were mixed, and the images were collected after 5 min. Coalescence is evident from the overlapping of red [CF488-BSA in (B) or Cy2-RNA-6nt in (C)] and blue (CF640-BSA) fluorescence in a majority of the droplets. Scale bars, 25 μm. (D and E) Confocal micrographs and the accompanying FRAP plot showing a fast (timescale of a few minutes) recovery of fluorescence from Cy2-labeled RNA of (D) 6 nt in length and (E) 49 nt in length in the photobleached droplets, suggesting a rapid exchange of RNA molecules between protocells. The fluorescence microscopy images are false colored for clarity. Scale bars, 25 μm. -- Science / UChicago](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/New-Research-Suggests-Rainwater.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
New Research Suggests Rainwater Helped Form The First Protocell Walls
One of the major unanswered questions about the origin of life is how droplets of RNA floating around the primordial soup turned into the membrane-protected packets of life we call […]
Posted inAI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Constructing the Molecular Tree of Life using Assembly Theory and Mass Spectrometry
The connected nature of all life on earth, dating back to the last universal common ancestor (LUCA), has been explored using knowledge of taxonomy and biochemistry, with significant insights enabled […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Heat Flows Solubilize Apatite To Boost Phosphate Availability For Prebiotic Chemistry
Phosphorus is an essential building block of the most prominent biomolecules, such as polynucleic acids, and has likely played that role since the beginning of life. Despite this importance for […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Selection for Photocatalytic Function through Darwinian Evolution of Synthetic Self-Replicators
The onset of Darwinian evolution represents a key step in the transition of chemical systems into living ones.