NASA-supported researchers have used a laboratory technique called directed evolution to create an RNA enzyme that is capable of carrying out RNA polymerase activity. In living cells, protein polymerases catalyze […]
PNAS
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Bioenergetics Of Iron Snow Fueling Life On Europa
The main sources of redox gradients supporting high-productivity life in the Europan and other icy ocean world oceans were proposed to be photolytically derived oxidants, such as reactive oxygen species […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Status Report
Prebiotic Access To Enantioenriched Amino Acids Via Peptide-mediated Transamination Reactions
The kinetic resolution of racemic amino acids mediated by dipeptides and pyridoxal provides a prebiotically plausible route to enantioenriched proteinogenic amino acids.
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Press Release, Space Life Science, Tricorders & Sensors
Tricorder Tech: Breakthrough Increases DNA Detection Sensitivity By 100 Times
UMass Amherst researchers have pushed forward the boundaries of biomedical engineering one hundredfold with a new method for DNA detection with unprecedented sensitivity.
Posted inAstrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release
Oxygen Controls On Magmatism In Rocky Exoplanets
Refractory oxygen bound to cations is a key component of the interior of rocky exoplanets. Its abundance controls planetary properties including metallic core fraction, core composition, and mantle and crust […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Extinction events
Did A Methane Burst Cause the end-Permian Extinction?
The end-Permian extinction is associated with a mysterious disruption to Earth’s carbon cycle. Here we identify causal mechanisms via three observations. First, we show that geochemical signals indicate superexponential growth […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life
Natural Affinities May Have Set Stage for Life to Ignite
The chemical components crucial to the start of life on Earth may have primed and protected each other in never-before-realized ways, according to new research led by University of Washington […]