NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI)

University of Washington

Executive Summary

Habitable Planets and Evolution of Biological Complexity

Project Reports

Bacterial tubulin and its implications on the evolution of Eukaryotes

Building a habitable planet: the geological record

Causes of mass extinctions: testing impact models_Kring

Causes of mass extinctions: testing impact models_Ward

Delivery of organic materials to planets

Dynamics of comets, asteroids, and planets

Evolution of biocomplexity from an ancient autotrophic lineage

First-Stage Biofilm Formation Under Extreme Conditions in Ice

Galactic Chemical Evolution and Extrasolar Planets

Microbial Mat Communities

Ocean Surfaces on Snowball Earth

Plate tectonics on the terrestrial planets

EPO Reports

Project Reports

Organized by Astrobiology Roadmap Objective

Goal 1: Understand the nature and distribution of habitable environments in the Universe

• Objective 1.1: Models of formation and evolution of habitable planets (4 reports)
• Objective 1.2: Indirect and direct astronomical observations of extrasolar habitable planets (2 reports)

Goal 2: Explore for past or present habitable environments, prebiotic chemistry and signs of life elsewhere in our Solar System

• Objective 2.2: Outer Solar System exploration (1 reports)

Goal 3: Understand how life originates from cosmic and planetary precursors

• Objective 3.1: Sources of prebiotic materials and catalysts (1 reports)
• Objective 3.2: Origins and evolution of functional biomolecules (3 reports)
• Objective 3.3: Origins of energy transduction (2 reports)

Goal 4: Understand how past life on Earth interacted with its changing planetary and Solar System environment

• Objective 4.1: Earth's early biosphere (2 reports)
• Objective 4.2: Foundations of complex life (4 reports)
• Objective 4.3: Effects of extraterrestrial events upon the biosphere (3 reports)

Goal 5: Understand the evolutionary mechanisms and environmental limits of life

• Objective 5.1: Environment-dependent, molecular evolution in microorganisms (2 reports)
• Objective 5.2: Co-evolution of microbial communities (2 reports)
• Objective 5.3: Biochemical adaptation to extreme environments (4 reports)

Goal 6: Understand the principles that will shape the future of life, both on Earth and beyond

• Objective 6.1: Environmental changes and the cycling of elements by the biota, communities, and ecosystems (3 reports)
• Objective 6.2: Adaptation and evolution of life beyond Earth (3 reports)

Goal 7: Determine how to recognize signatures of life on other worlds and on early Earth

• Objective 7.1: Biosignatures to be sought in Solar System materials (1 reports)
• Objective 7.2: Biosignatures to be sought in nearby planetary systems (2 reports)