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 […]
A new study from researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison shows that 3.4 billion years ago, life on Earth relied on a metal called molybdenum, despite its limited availability at […]
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 […]
Isolating the first spark of life on Earth is a matter of biology, geology, and chemistry — but it’s also an amazing math problem. At least, that’s how Varun Varanasi […]
![These high-resolution pre-catalysis RNA Pol II EC structures also define the reaction-ready configuration of a complete active site. The 1.96 Å cryo-EM map reveals an unambiguous density of Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) substrate with a chair-like triphosphate conformation that is precisely coordinated with two Mg2+ ions. [Full video] Molecular Cell](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Water-molecules-found.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Researchers have uncovered a previously hidden layer of complexity in how genes are activated, showing that water molecules play a direct and essential role in one of the most fundamental […]
Background Cable bacteria are filamentous sulphide-oxidisers capable of cm-scale electron transport. They are generally considered restricted to the upper few oxic–suboxic cm of marine sediments, where they couple sulphide oxidation […]
Two fundamental questions have puzzled scientists for more than 150 years. “How did life become homochiral?” and “why was this specific handedness selected?”
The deep entanglement of biomolecular structure and function with aqueous systems supports the view that water actively sculpted both molecules and processes during the origins of life and continues to […]
At some point in Earth’s history, chemistry transitioned from abiotic organic synthesis—the building of more complicated organic molecules from smaller ones by nonbiological means—to biochemistry.
Recent advances in prebiotic chemistry suggest that hydrogen cyanide (HCN) serves as a fundamental precursor for nearly all essential biomolecules and protometabolic processes for life’s emergence.
