Astrobiology and the Possibility of Life on Earth and Elsewhere…

Cottin, Hervé; Kotler, J. Michelle; Bartik, Kristin; Cleaves, H. James; Cockell, Charles S.; Vera, Jean Pierre Paul de; Ehrenfreund, P.; Leuko, Stefan; Kate, I. L. ten; Martins, Zita; Pascal, Robert; Quinn, R. C.; Rettberg, Petra; Westall, Francès

doi:10.1007/s11214-015-0196-1

Cited by 80 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 375 publications

(345 reference statements)

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“…As reviewed in Cottin et al (2015a), the origin of organic materials preceding the emergence of life on the Early Earth is one major topic in astrobiology. Several complementary sources are considered, among them the coupled system ocean/atmosphere (the primitive soup theory) (see e.g.…”

Section: B Planetary Atmospheres and Endogenous Sources Of Organic Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mars is a primary astrobiological target (Cottin et al 2015a) because its past environmental conditions may have been favorable to the emergence of a prebiotic chemistry, and maybe even of a biological activity. Since 2004, several space missions (Mars Exploration Rovers, Mars Express, Phoenix, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Science Laboratory) have provided data emphasizing the past presence of liquid water on the surface of the planet, an essential ingredient for life as we know it.…”

Section: Organic Molecules and Biosignatures At Mars Surfacementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Miller-Urey types of experiments have been carried out under a variety of conditions (Cottin et al 2015a); however, the influence of weightlessness on such chemical reactions as an additional parameter has never been investigated. Comparison between the results from traditional Miller-Urey type experiments and Miller-Urey type experiments performed under weightlessness conditions can confirm proposed scenarios (e.g., the Strecker amino acid synthesis), leads to the identification of new reaction pathways, and provides a better understanding of how organic compounds formed in outer space.…”

Section: E O/oreos-sevo Payloadmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When the word "exobiology" was coined by J. Lederberg in 1960(Lederberg 1960, at a time when the search for life beyond Earth started to settle on the scientific foundation that prevails today (Cottin et al 2015a), microorganisms were intentionally placed in space as part of the scientific payloads of Sputniks, Vostoks and Gemini spacecraft, principally to study the effects of microgravity (Taylor et al 1974). The very first exposure of microorganisms to space radiation, proving that life could survive the extremely harsh conditions of open space, were conducted on sounding rockets in 1965 (150 km) (Hotchin et al 1967), extended to the Gemini 9 and 12 missions in 1966 (300 km) (Hotchin et al 1968) and finally as the Apollo 16 mission was flying back to Earth from the Moon (Taylor et al 1974).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 2011 ESA funded a topical team on astrobiology to address those questions. The team was asked to produce an update about the recent profound achievements and transformations in the field of astrobiology that have occurred in the last years (Cottin et al 2015a) and to focus specifically on experimental studies either in the field (i.e. using Earth as a tool for astrobiology) or in space, (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Space as a Tool for Astrobiology: Review and Recommendations for Experimentations in Earth Orbit and Beyond

et al. 2017

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The space environment is regularly used for experiments addressing astrobiology research goals. The specific conditions prevailing in Earth orbit and beyond, notably the radiative environment (photons and energetic particles) and the possibility to conduct long-duration measurements, have been the main motivations for developing experimental concepts to expose chemical or biological samples to outer space, or to use the reentry of a spacecraft on Earth to simulate the fall of a meteorite. This paper represents an overview of past and current research in astrobiology conducted in Earth orbit and beyond, with a special focus on ESA missions such as Biopan, STONE (on Russian FOTON capsules) and EXPOSE facilities (outside the International Space Station). The future of exposure platforms is discussed, notably how they can be improved for better science return, and how to incorporate the use of small satellites such as those built in cubesat format.

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Section: B Planetary Atmospheres and Endogenous Sources Of Organic Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Organic Molecules and Biosignatures At Mars Surfacementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: E O/oreos-sevo Payloadmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Space as a Tool for Astrobiology: Review and Recommendations for Experimentations in Earth Orbit and Beyond

et al. 2017

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On the Role of Water as a Catalyst in Prebiotic Chemistry

Saá¹,

Frontera²

2020

ChemPhysChem

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In this manuscript we provide computational support to the catalytic role of water in all kinds of pseudopericyclic reactions operating in the reductive acid cycle, as well as in other metabolic processes. Water catalysis is not limited to those reactions where simple translocation of hydrogen atoms occurs, such as those represented by NuH+E→Nu‐EH general equation. Indeed, water catalysis is more general and extremely important in tautomerization reactions of the type HX−Y=Z→X=Y−ZH, which operate in the reductive citric acid cycle and metabolic processes. Moreover, the comprehensive theoretical study reported herein illustrates that these reactions appear to behave as authentic enzyme‐catalyzed reactions showing Michaelis‐Menten behavior, however with the abnormal singularity that the concentration of the catalytic “water clusters” of different length and nature must be taken as a huge number. Overall, the results presented are suggestive of the workability of the so‐called “metabolism first” proposal in a hot water world, as water catalysis eliminates the dilution problem frequently associated to this proposal.

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Protocells: Milestones and Recent Advances

Gözen

Köksal

Põldsalu

et al. 2022

Small

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to assemble astonishing pieces of a complicated puzzle, and realized that further advancement requires input from multiple branches of science, not just biology as the primary life science. Detailed hypotheses have been established about the different scenarios of the emergence of life, including the "RNA world," [1] the "lipid world," [2] "replicator first," [3] "metabolism first," [4][5][6] and others. Although the origin of life is still surrounded by many open questions, our understanding of chemical, physicochemical, and biochemical processes possibly involved in the ancient events preceding Darwinian evolution has seen much progress. We have come a long way from Leduc's physicochemical, inorganic matter-centered view on the beginning of the evolution, yet the matter of the transition from nonliving to living matter still remains largely unsolved, and one of the great scientific problems of our time.The phylogenetic tree of different living domains reflects that life has evolved from simple to more complex structures, i.e., from single-to multicellular organisms. The oldest fossil evidence dating back 3.5 Gy (billion years) comes from stromatolites, [7][8][9][10] microorganismal residues in sedimentary rocks. [11] There appears to be a gap of knowledge regarding the period of evolution between the first primitive hypothetical cells and the fossilized ancient bacteria, which can be considered as an already advanced form of life. [12] It is highly likely that intermediate primitive cell precursors preceded the single-cell organisms. The hypothetical prebiotic structures that were the stepping stone to first self-sustaining living cells are commonly termed "protocells." The possibility of a strong link between the formation of protocells and the origin of life can today be reasonably assumed.One cannot easily proceed in the context of the evolution of cell-based organisms without briefly illuminating the concept of life as we know it on our planet. Over time, different requirements have been proposed for an entity to be considered alive. According to Tibor Ganti's chemoton model, [13] a protocell contains three autocatalytic subsystems: a membrane subsystem that keeps the components together and intact, a metabolic subsystem that captures energy and material resources, and an information subsystem that processes and transfers heritable information to progeny. To be considered alive, these subsystems must be unified and function co-operatively for the survival and evolution of the supersystem. Pohorille and Deamer suggested a modified set of 7 criteria related to the chemoton. [14] At about the same time, Oro defined the requirements by 10 characteristic features. [15] Despite their differences, these descriptions align well with NASA's broader definition of life: "a self-sustaining chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution."The origin of life is still one of humankind's great mysteries. At the transition between nonliving and living matter, protocells, initially featureless aggregates of abiotic matter, ga...

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Astrobiology and the Possibility of Life on Earth and Elsewhere…

Cited by 80 publications

References 375 publications

Space as a Tool for Astrobiology: Review and Recommendations for Experimentations in Earth Orbit and Beyond

Space as a Tool for Astrobiology: Review and Recommendations for Experimentations in Earth Orbit and Beyond

On the Role of Water as a Catalyst in Prebiotic Chemistry

Protocells: Milestones and Recent Advances

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