![[Tree of Life] The Wellcome Sanger Institute’s Tree of Life programme has announced ambitious plans to accelerate publication of genome notes from approximately 30 per month to 200, expanding access to research that is supporting advances in agriculture, conservation, and medicine. This significant increase will be facilitated by a new specialised workflow developed by F1000 and the Wellcome Sanger Institute for Wellcome Open Research.](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/treeoflife1-2.jpg?resize=1200%2C722&ssl=1)
Editor’s note: If we aspire to mount expeditions to new worlds and then embrace the task of characterizing and quantifying whatever life forms we find, the ability to map and […]
Systematics
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
From Mars to Minas: Research Reclassifies Organisms That Thrive In Highly Saline Environments
[JORNAL DA USP – Universidade de São Paulo] Organisms that defy life by thriving in environments where most other living beings could not survive. To date, there is no scientific […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Rethinking the Last Universal Common Ancestor of Life: Network Convergence and the Root of the Tree
The tree of life is rooted at the “origin of life.” One model holds that core biochemistry, which includes the genetic code, the ribosome, biopolymer backbones, and amino acid and […]
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
New Clues To Origins Of Complex Life Revealed
Mississippi State biologist Matthew W. Brown, the university’s Donald L. Hall Professor of Biology, is part of an international research team whose groundbreaking discovery is featured Nov. 19 in Nature—one […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Molecular Diversity As A Biosignature
The search for life in the Solar System hinges on data from planetary missions. Biosignatures based on molecular identity, isotopic composition, or chiral excess require measurements that current and planned […]
Posted inAI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Fossils & Paleontology, Microbiology & Virology, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors
Tricorder Tech: AI Matches Human Experts In Classifying Microscopic Organisms
Editor’s note: If we aspire to mount expeditions to new worlds and then embrace the task of characterizing and quantifying whatever life forms we find, the ability to map and […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Microbiology & Virology, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Origin & Evolution of Life, Plant Biology, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Study Resolves The Diatom Tree Of Life
Trees get most of the love, but diatoms, a group of photosynthetic microalgae, produce 20% of Earth’s oxygen and are the foundation of aquatic food webs. The prevalence and diversity […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Callisto, Cryobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Ice Planet Exploration: A Dataset Of Antarctic Ecosystems In Ice-free Lands
Astrobiology.com Editor’s note: Recently the Fram2 mission took four astronaut explorers on an orbital path that covered both of our planet’s polar regions. This was the fist human mission to […]
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Ocean Planet Biodiversity Genomics
The deep sea, covering approximately 65% of Earth’s surface, has long been considered a biological desert. In this extreme environment—particularly in the hadal zone at depths greater than 6,000 meters—organisms […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Extinction events, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Impact events, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Press Release
Mass Extinction 66 million Years Ago Triggered Rapid Evolution Of Bird Genomes
Shortly after an asteroid slammed into Earth 66 million years ago, life for non-avian dinosaurs ended, but the evolutionary story for the early ancestors of birds began.