Life demonstrates remarkable homochirality of its major building blocks: nucleic acids, amino acids, sugars, and phospholipids. Phospholipid bilayer vesicles (liposomes) are formed at the water/air interface from Langmuir layers and […]
phospholipids
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Status Report
An Organics-forward Approach To Searching For Life On Mars
The modern Martian surface is cold, dry, oxidizing, and perpetually bombarded with radiation, rendering it generally inhospitable to life as we know it.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
The Master Molecule That Built Biology: How Water Shaped The Chemistry Of Life
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 […]
Posted inAstropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
A Modular 3D-Printed Design To Investigate Prebiotic Chemical Systems In Hot Spring Pools
The emergence of protocells, membranous compartments with encapsulated genetic material, was a crucial step in life’s origin and evolution. The hot spring hypothesis for the origin of life suggests that […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
On The Origins Of Life: Recreating Cellular Metabolism
At some point during the evolution of life on Earth, inorganic matter became organic, nonliving matter became living. How this happened is one of humankind’s greatest mysteries. Today, scientists work […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Evolution Associated With The Membrane-takeover At An Early Stage Of Life
Modern cell membranes are primarily composed of phospholipids, while primitive cell membranes in the beginning of life are believed to have formed from simpler lipids (such as fatty acids) synthesized […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Enceladus, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Status Report
Polyextremophilic Bacteria in Al Wahbah Crater: A Terrestrial Model for Life On Enceladus
The study of extremophilic microorganisms has sparked interest in understanding extraterrestrial microbial life.
Posted inAstrogeology, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Impact events, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Meteorites & Asteroids, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Saudi Arabia Crater Holds Clues For Extraterrestrial Life
In the search for life in space, scientists have studied life in some of the earth’s most extreme environments.
![[L] Absorbance data was acquired on a Perkin Elmer Synergy Neo2 plate reader equipped with monochromator optics. We first conducted spectral scanning from 380 nm to 740 nm (5 nm steps) to determine the wavelength of maximal OD increase (645 nm). Subsequent endpoint reads were acquired pre- and post-UV exposure at that single wavelength. Black columns – liposomes before the UV irradiation; grey columns – liposomes radiated with UV for 3 minutes. [R] Liposomes after 3 min of UV radiation. The top image shows liposomes shielded by cuvettes with distilled water, and the middle and bottom images show liposomes shielded by cuvettes with solutions of (NH4)5[Fe(C6H4O7)2] and FeCl3. -- biorxiv.org](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Solutions-Of-Ferrous-Salts.png?resize=1200%2C717&ssl=1)
Posted inBiophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Solutions Of Ferrous Salts Protect Liposomes From UV Damage: Implications For Life Origin
Previously, we presented a hypothesis on the Darwinian evolution of liposomes that relies only on natural and ever-present phenomena: solar UV radiation, day/night cycle, gravity, and the formation of amphiphiles, […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Drawing A Line Back To The Origin Of Life On Earth
Scientists in Cambridge University suggest molecules, vital to the development of life, could have formed from a process known as graphitisation. Once verified in the laboratory, it could allow us […]