Advancing the search for extra-terrestrial genomes

Carr, Christopher E.; Mojarro, Angel; Tani, Jacopo; Bhattaru, Srinivasa A.; Zuber, M. T.; Doebler, Robert; Brown, Mark J.; Herrington, Keith; Talbot, Ryan; Fuller, Carl W.; Finney, Michael; Church, George M.; Ruvkun, Gary

doi:10.1109/aero.2016.7500859

Cited by 19 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Work is under way to develop nanopore sequencing as part of spacecraft instrumentation to search for life on other worlds. [14][15][16][17] For example, life on Mars, if present, may share common ancestry with organisms on Earth. Sequencing could help to distinguish definitively deeply branching but highly divergent forms of nucleic acid-based life from common clean-room contaminants.…”

Section: T a B L Ementioning

confidence: 99%

Real-Time DNA Sequencing in the Antarctic Dry Valleys Using the Oxford Nanopore Sequencer

et al. 2017

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The ability to sequence DNA outside of the laboratory setting has enabled novel research questions to be addressed in the field in diverse areas, ranging from environmental microbiology to viral epidemics. Here, we demonstrate the application of offline DNA sequencing of environmental samples using a hand-held nanopore sequencer in a remote field location: the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Sequencing was performed using a MK1B MinION sequencer from Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT; Oxford, United Kingdom) that was equipped with software to operate without internet connectivity. One-direction (1D) genomic libraries were prepared using portable field techniques on DNA isolated from desiccated microbial mats. By adequately insulating the sequencer and laptop, it was possible to run the sequencing protocol for up to 2½ h under arduous conditions.

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Section: T a B L Ementioning

confidence: 99%

Real-Time DNA Sequencing in the Antarctic Dry Valleys Using the Oxford Nanopore Sequencer

et al. 2017

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“…Of course, attempts have been made to confirm the source of the liquid water (Carr et al, 2017), and sampling locations on Mars have included subsurface regions (Byrne et al, 2009;Dundas et al, 2014;Jones et al, 2011). These subsurface regions can be accessed by drilling or via geological features such as lava tubes, within which the search for Extra-Terrestrial Genomes can be used to target extant or recently dead life (Ciarletti et al, 2017), given the limited lifetime of DNA on Earth (~106 years, due to hydrolysis) and on Mars (~107 years, due to self-radiation) under otherwise protected conditions (Carr et al, 2016;Hays et al, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contemporary Liquid Brine Exploration on Mars: From Spectral Unmixing to Subpixel Mapping

Zhong

Luo

et al. 2019

Earth and Space Science

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Water is a critical symbol for the existence of life in deep space exploration, and thus, the confirmation of the existence of liquid water on the contemporary Martian surface is important for the future studies of the hydrologic cycle and potential life on Mars. The main Mars observation system at a global scale is the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter; however, this system has several drawbacks, that is, it cannot simultaneously resolve the features narrower than a few meters and scrutinize the surface composition both physically and chemically, leading to deficient and unsophisticated aqueous activity detection. Therefore, in this study, a joint endmember extraction, spectral analysis, and subpixel mapping technique, which we refer to as a joint processing pipeline, was applied to accommodate the detailed spatial information with the composition information in the physical and chemical aspects through luxuriant spectra. The validation of the proposed joint processing pipeline is described in the experimental part, with a case study of the megadune in the Russell Crater of Mars. The experimental results not only confirm the superior performance of the proposed pipeline in the accurate mapping and retrieval of Mars surface geology but also provide spectral evidence for the confirmation that hydrated material existed in the Russell Crater.

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“…Why might the muscle efficiency vary with G but not vary substantially with locomotion velocity? 3 McMahon and others have shown that leg stiffness, but not vertical stiffness [22] is relatively constant as a function of velocity. Leg stiffness is related to contraction velocity, and therefore muscle efficiency can be maintained across a wide range of velocities.…”

Section: B Muscle Efficiency and Gravitymentioning

confidence: 98%

“…SpaceX has painted an expansive vision for human exploration of Mars [2]. Future visitors or inhabitants there are not going with the intention to stay safely inside their habitats, but to exploreand build-a new world: for example, to search for life beyond 978-1-5090-1613-6/17/31.00 c 2017 IEEE Earth [3], and to find the resources required for continued human habitation [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exoskeleton energetics: Implications for planetary extravehicular activity

Carr

Newman

2017

2017 IEEE Aerospace Conference

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Humans first visited another world nearly 50 years ago and are poised to return to the Moon and visit Mars in the coming decade(s). Developing a space suit that supports safe, efficient, and effective exploration despite the extremes of temperature, pressure, radiation, and environmental hazards like dust and topography remains a critical challenge. Space suits impose restrictions on movement that increase metabolic rate and limit the intensity and duration of extravehicular activity. In this study, a lower body exoskeleton was used to test a simple model that predicts the energy cost of locomotion across gait and gravity. Energetic cost and other variables were measured during treadmill locomotion, with and without a lower body exoskeleton, in simulated reduced gravity and in Earth gravity. Six subjects walked and ran at constant Froude numbers, nondimensional parameters used to characterize gait. The springlike energy recovery of the exoskeleton legs was estimated using energetics data in combination with the model. Model predictions agreed with the observed results (no statistical difference). High spring-like energy recovery of the exoskeleton legs lowered measures of the energetic cost of locomotion. For planetary extravehicular activity, our work reveals potential approaches to optimizing space suits for efficient locomotion, for example, tuning the stiffness and spring-like energy recovery of space suit legs.

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Advancing the search for extra-terrestrial genomes

Cited by 19 publications

References 64 publications

Real-Time DNA Sequencing in the Antarctic Dry Valleys Using the Oxford Nanopore Sequencer

Real-Time DNA Sequencing in the Antarctic Dry Valleys Using the Oxford Nanopore Sequencer

Contemporary Liquid Brine Exploration on Mars: From Spectral Unmixing to Subpixel Mapping

Exoskeleton energetics: Implications for planetary extravehicular activity

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