NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  1. Content with the tag: “origin of life

  2. Functional Genomics of Thioredoxins in Halobacterium sp. NRC-1

    ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1, 3.2, 5.1, 5.3

    Module 1: The Building Blocks of Life

    ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1, 3.2, 4.2, 7.1

    Origin of Life and Catalysis - Philosophical Considerations

    ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 4.2

    Philosophical Problems in Astrobiology; issues on the origin of life,

    ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 4.1, 4.2
  3. Cooking Up Creation in a Computer


    Bruce Damer has created 3-D computer simulations for NASA Ames, and he now hopes to use that experience to simulate the origin of life. The Evogrid is a proposed computerized version of the primordial soup on early Earth. Digitally simulating virtual particles could help answer the question of how life originated on Earth, and perhaps even spread life to other worlds.

    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  4. The New Astrobiology Magazine


    Is there life on other planets? What are the latest findings on Mars? Astrobiology Magazine has been reporting the latest and most exciting developments in science related to astrobiology since 2000. Now, Astrobiology Magazine has designed a completely new website in order to provide the best possible experience for viewers. The site can new be viewed at http://www.astrobio.net.

    Source: [Astrobiology Magazine]

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  5. Nascence Man


    NAI scientist Mike Russell is the subject of a recent Nature News Feature which likens his work on the origin of life to the alchemists of yore. His research, however, involves transforming elements not into gold, but into the ‘stirrings of life.’ The article describes the equipment in his lab as ‘the biological equivalent of a particle accelerator,’ as he is using two linked containers to attempt to recreate the first moments of life on Earth. One contains a liquid proxy for the Earth’s early oceans, and the other holds a liquid proxy...

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  6. Modern Alchemy


    In the past, alchemists were famous for manipulating chemicals to form unique substances in their search for ultimate wisdom and immortality. Immortality may not be the goal for Mike Russell at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratories, but his work does focus on some of the most basic elements of life. Under carefully controlled conditions, he hopes to recreate the origin of life on Earth by focusing on the ‘metabolism first’ model. Russell’s work, funded through the Astrobiology Program at NASA, was recently featured in the journal Nature.

    Source: [Nature]

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  7. Reanimating Extinct Genes


    Can evolution be played over again in the lab? A group of researchers plans to insert an ancient gene in a modern day bacteria and see if this gene will mutate back to its current-day form. The results will give insight into how unique the evolutionary path may be.

    Source: [Astrobiology Magazine]

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  8. How Life Shatters Chemistry's Mirror


    Handedness, or “chirality,” is when molecules come in two forms that are mirror images of each other, like right- and left-handed gloves. Even though chiral molecules are produced equally in nature, life seems to prefer one hand over the other. The reason for this is a mystery that scientists are struggling to answer.

    Source: [Astrobiology Magazine]

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  9. Unlocking the Combination


    Researchers in the field of synthetic biology are still a long way away from being able to assemble living cells from raw materials. However, their research is now yielding important clues about the origin of life on Earth. By studying how molecules self-assemble, a team of scientists from UC Santa Cruz is shedding light on how the first protocells were able to capture energy and nutrients from the environment – ultimately allowing for growth and reproduction. The results of their research were recently presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in...

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    Source: [Astrobiology Magazine]

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  10. Life in Transition



    The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced a new initiative from the Biological Sciences Directorate to support emerging interdisciplinary research at the intersection of the life and physical sciences. The program will focus particularly on the fundamental questions of ‘Life in Transition’, including areas relevant to the goals of astrobiology. These areas include “how the living world has and is adapting to and transforming the Earth’s climate, the diverse strategies by which living systems obtain and use energy, and life’s origins and indispensable properties.

    Target and deadline dates for proposals are...


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    Source: [NSF]

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  11. Replicating RNA


    Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute have made important steps toward understanding how life originated by shedding light on the ‘RNA World’ hypothesis. The ‘RNA World’ refers to the idea that life on Earth went through a stage where RNA was used to store information and act as a catalyst, much like DNA and proteins are used in organisms today. A critical component of this stage would be that RNA molecules would have to replicate themselves. The team at Scripps has now synthesized RNA enzymes that can replicate themselves without the help of additional...

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    Source: [Astrobiology Magazine]

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  12. Follow the Elements


    New research funded by the NASA Astrobiology Institute is providing insight into how the distribution of elements in Earth’s oceans has affected the evolution of life over time. The research sheds light on how the biosphere of Earth has changed alongside the planetary environment, and will help astrobiologists understand the conditions necessary for life on other planets.

    Source: [Astrobiology Magazine]

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  13. Seeing Life in Viruses


    Viruses
    From Astrobiology Magazine, European Edition is a story about research conducted by Kirsi Lehto of the University of Turku in Finland. Lehto studies plant viruses with an eye toward their role in the origin and evolution of life.

    Source: [Astrobiology Magazine]

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  14. Miller-Urey Revisited


    Members of NAI’s Carnegie Institution of Washington, Indiana University, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Teams and their colleagues have revisited the Miller-Urey experiments, and found some surprising results.

    A classic experiment proving amino acids are created when inorganic molecules are exposed to electricity isn’t the whole story, it turns out. The 1953 Miller-Urey Synthesis had two sibling studies, neither of which was published. Vials containing the products from those experiments were recently recovered and reanalyzed using modern technology. The results are reported in this week’s Science.

    One of the unpublished experiments by...

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    Source: [Indiana University Press Release]

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  15. Deep Hydrogen


    Molecular hydrogen provides energy for many bacteria, in hot springs at Yellowstone and in rocks several kilometers beneath the surface. How did molecular hydrogen get inside these deep rocks, and what does this tell us about the origin of life on Earth?

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    Source: [Link]

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