Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Wataru Takahagi, Satoshi Okada, Yohei Matsui, Shigeaki Ono, Ken Takai, Yoshio Takahashi, Norio Kitadai
Summary: Increasing evidence suggests that early ocean hydrothermal systems were a source of ammonia, an important nitrogen species for the prebiotic synthesis of life's building blocks. Researchers have discovered that mackinawite, a common sulfide precipitate in these systems, is capable of adsorbing and accumulating ammonia, which may have played a crucial role in the origin of life.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Paul B. Rimmer, Sukrit Ranjan, Sarah Rugheimer
Summary: The study of the origin of life on Earth and the search for life on other planets are closely linked. Laboratory research guides exploration within our Solar System and informs future exoplanet observations. Exoplanet research provides statistical context to conclusions about the nature and origins of life.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Gabin Laurent, David Lacoste, Pierre Gaspard
Summary: Research indicates that large molecular systems containing abundant chiral species in chemical networks are likely to undergo a phase transition towards a homochiral state, confirming the extended model.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Biology
Niraja V. Bapat, Sudha Rajamani
Summary: It is crucial for researchers to consider the abiotic origin of potential biosignatures when searching for extraterrestrial life. Prebiotic chemistry, which studies enzyme-free chemical syntheses, can help in analyzing whether perceived 'signatures of life' could have chemical origins. The knowledge gained from understanding the transition from chemistry to biology during the origin of life can be used to create a library of abiotically synthesized biologically relevant organic molecules, aiding in the design and testing of instruments for future explorations.
Review
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Gabriele Amante, Judit E. Sponer, Jiri Sponer, Franz Saija, Giuseppe Cassone
Summary: The search for the chemical origins of life has been a long-standing and debated mystery. Recent advancements in computing power and computational methods have allowed for more realistic simulations of matter behavior under different conditions, providing insights into the origin of life.
Review
Biology
Lena Vincent, Stephanie Colon-Santos, H. James Cleaves II, David A. Baum, Sarah E. Maurer
Summary: This paper discusses principles for selecting chemical mixtures for prebiotic chemistry experiments, reviews natural environmental conditions that may have created such mixtures, and suggests reasonable guidelines for designing recipes. It explores assembled and synthesized mixtures, and addresses practical concerns such as balancing prebiotically realistic mixtures with experimental tractability. The development of standardized prebiotic recipes and a public prebiotic chemistry database are advocated to facilitate coordination among researchers and identify promising mechanisms in the origin of life.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Laura M. Barge, Erika Flores, Jessica M. Weber, Abigail A. Fraeman, Yuk L. Yung, David VanderVelde, Eduardo Martinez, Amalia Castonguay, Keith Billings, Marc M. Baum
Summary: The study found that iron mineral-driven reduction of NO3- or NO2- in experiments containing NOx- could not provide sufficient NH3/NH4+ to form amino acids, requiring an exogenous source of NH3/NH4+. Additionally, NO2- was observed to react with Fe2+ and Fe(II) minerals, leading to Fe oxidation and the formation of oxidized mineral phases.
GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
S. Furkan Ozturk, Dimitar D. Sasselov
Summary: The origins of biological homochirality on early Earth are still unknown, but this study proposes a hypothesis regarding this phenomenon. The authors suggest that shallow closed-basin lakes on early Earth, which are expected to contain significant sedimentary magnetite deposits, could have been a plausible prebiotic environment. They hypothesize that ultraviolet (200-300 nm) irradiation of magnetite deposits could generate hydrated spin-polarized electrons that induce enantioselective prebiotic chemistry, thereby facilitating the synthesis of life's building blocks.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Biology
Dominic Papineau, Kevin Devine, Bernardo Albuquerque Nogueira
Summary: The origin of life may have involved abiotic carbon redox reactions that produced lifelike patterns through chemically oscillating reactions (COR). COR are spontaneous, out-of-equilibrium, and redox reactions that decarboxylate carboxylic acids to produce CO2 and self-similar patterns. These patterns have circular concentricity, radial geometries, colour gradients, cavity structures, and branching, which are also observed in some eukaryotic lifeforms. Future research should investigate the role of halogens in biochemistry, COR in life-forms including humans, and the COR-stage of prebiotic carbon cycling on other planets like Mars.
Article
Engineering, Aerospace
Niels F. W. Ligterink, Kristina A. Kipfer, Salome Gruchola, Nikita J. Boeren, Peter Keresztes Schmidt, Coenraad P. de Koning, Marek Tulej, Peter Wurz, Andreas Riedo
Summary: Observations of chemical and physical peculiarities in Venus's atmosphere have raised speculations about the presence of life in its clouds. To search for signs of Venusian life, a Venus Life Finder mission with dedicated instruments is being prepared. The ORIGIN instrument, a laser desorption/laser ablation ionization mass spectrometer, is designed to detect biomolecules and analyze elemental composition. Recent studies with this instrument have investigated amino acids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, lipids, salts, metals, sulphur isotopes, and microbial elemental composition in Venus's atmosphere. The implementation of the ORIGIN instrument into a Venus Life Finder mission is discussed, highlighting its low weight and power consumption.
Article
Biology
Nicholas Guttenberg, Huan Chen, Tomohiro Mochizuki, H. James Cleaves
Summary: The search for extraterrestrial life in the Solar System relies on distinguishing biological features from background signals using techniques like mass spectrometry. This method can effectively differentiate organic compounds produced by biological and abiological processes. It presents a general approach for detecting evidence of biology independently of the specific molecular makeup of samples, and may have implications for studying emergent living phenomena and paleobiological samples.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zachary R. Cohen, Zoe R. Todd, Nicholas Wogan, Roy A. Black, Sarah L. Keller, David C. Catling
Summary: The first cells may have been bounded by membranes made of fatty acids with at least 8 carbons. The origin and abundance of fatty acids on the early Earth are not certain, but three possible sources are delivery by carbonaceous meteorites, synthesis on metals delivered by impactors, and electrochemical synthesis by spark discharges. Calculations suggest that synthesis on iron-rich surfaces from impactors could have supplied significantly more fatty acids than carbonaceous meteorites or electrochemical synthesis. However, a single carbonaceous meteorite would not deliver a high enough concentration of fatty acids into existing bodies of water to form membranes without further concentration. Further research is needed to understand how fatty acids could have been concentrated to assemble into membranes during the origin of life.
ACS EARTH AND SPACE CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
L. Chimiak, J. Eiler, A. Sessions, C. Blumenfeld, M. Klatte, B. M. Stoltz
Summary: Strecker synthesis is a significant mechanism in the chemistry of life's origin on Earth and other planets, creating a-amino acids from prebiotically plausible substrates. By measuring the carbon and nitrogen isotope effects, we can better understand the synthetic environments and unique signatures of abiogenic amino acids formed by Strecker synthesis.
GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Dylan C. Gagler, Bradley Karas, Christopher P. Kempes, John Malloy, Veronica Mierzejewski, Aaron D. Goldman, Hyunju Kim, Sara Walker
Summary: This article introduces a more general concept of biochemical universality, different from known biochemistry, which can be used to predict undiscovered biochemical examples. Through the analysis of genomic datasets, it is found that enzyme functions exist as universality classes with common scaling behavior. These findings are important for inferring properties of ancient life and searching for missing biochemical diversity on Earth or biochemistries that deviate from the known chemical makeup of life.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Norio Kitadai, Shigeru Shimamura, Wataru Takahagi, Masayuki Miyazaki, Eiji Tasumi, Satoshi Okada
Summary: The origin of life in submarine hydrothermal systems has been supported by diverse scientific disciplines for a long time, but the chemical plausibility of this scenario remains uncertain. Many hypotheses propose peptides as important molecules in the prebiotic chemistry, but it is still unknown how peptides were formed from amino acids that were present in low concentrations. In this study, it was shown that a simple mix of elemental sulfur, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon monoxide enabled efficient dimerization of glycine at low concentrations. This finding supports the possibility of abiotic peptide formation and facilitates the hydrothermal origin of life.
GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA
(2023)
Article
Biology
Gabriele Valentini, Naoki Masuda, Zachary Shaffer, Jake R. Hanson, Takao Sasaki, Sara Imari Walker, Theodore P. Pavlic, Stephen C. Pratt
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2020)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Harrison B. Smith, Alexa Drew, John F. Malloy, Sara Imari Walker
Summary: A framework combining observational data from planetary missions and genomic data from Earth is proposed to study the accessibility of biochemical space across diverse planetary environments. Using seed compounds present on Enceladus, researchers were able to determine the reachability of Earth's biochemical products, providing a map for potential targets for detection of Earth-like life on Enceladus in future missions.
Review
Biology
Hyunju Kim, Gabriele Valentini, Jake Hanson, Sara Imari Walker
Summary: Collective behavior, a hallmark property of living and intelligent systems, has also been observed in simple physical systems, leading to the adoption of physical models to explain living collective behaviors. Understanding the differences between non-living and living systems in collective behavior is crucial, as well as exploring how information architecture plays a role in quantifying living collective behaviors. By characterizing collective phenomena from an information-theoretic perspective, future research can focus on quantifying and comparing living collectives based on their informational structure.
THEORY IN BIOSCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Harrison B. Smith, Hyunju Kim, Sara I. Walker
Summary: Biochemical reactions are essential for all life functions and involve complex molecular interactions in cells and ecosystems. While true scale-free networks are rare, most biochemical networks are not scale-free. However, biochemical networks across different levels of organization exhibit a common structure, suggesting shared organizing principles.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Stuart M. Marshall, Cole Mathis, Emma Carrick, Graham Keenan, Geoffrey J. T. Cooper, Heather Graham, Matthew Craven, Piotr S. Gromski, Douglas G. Moore, Sara Walker, Leroy Cronin
Summary: The search for alien life is challenging due to uncertainties in defining signatures of living systems. Using the molecular assembly index and tandem mass spectrometry, this study presents a method for identifying molecules produced by biological systems and detecting biosignatures from various samples, including those from outer space.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Theodore P. Pavlic, Jake Hanson, Gabriele Valentini, Sara Imari Walker, Stephen C. Pratt
Summary: Quorum sensing is a common mechanism in nature and engineered systems, requiring groups to integrate information and reach consensus on actions. In ants, sensitivity to encounter rate is believed to be a key mechanism for individual ants to sense quorum.
SWARM INTELLIGENCE
(2021)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Adam Frank, David Grinspoon, Sara Walker
Summary: Traditionally, intelligence is seen as an attribute of individuals but it is also recognized as a collective property, even at the planetary scale. Researchers acknowledge that understanding key aspects of life and evolution requires a planetary perspective rather than focusing on individual species. The concept of planetary intelligence can be useful for Earth Systems and Exoplanet studies, Anthropocene and Sustainability studies, and the search for Technosignatures and Extraterrestrial Intelligence.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ASTROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Gabriele Valentini, Theodore P. Pavlic, Sara Imari Walker, Stephen C. Pratt, Dora Biro, Takao Sasaki, Irene Giardina
Summary: Through studying homing pigeons, researchers found that group-living animals can pass route information down to inexperienced individuals through behavioral traditions. Finding a balance between exploration and exploitation of social information is crucial in preventing the spread of maladaptive traditions, with the level of experience affecting an individual's contribution to the exploration-exploitation trade-off.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Dylan C. Gagler, Bradley Karas, Christopher P. Kempes, John Malloy, Veronica Mierzejewski, Aaron D. Goldman, Hyunju Kim, Sara Walker
Summary: This article introduces a more general concept of biochemical universality, different from known biochemistry, which can be used to predict undiscovered biochemical examples. Through the analysis of genomic datasets, it is found that enzyme functions exist as universality classes with common scaling behavior. These findings are important for inferring properties of ancient life and searching for missing biochemical diversity on Earth or biochemistries that deviate from the known chemical makeup of life.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Theresa Fisher, Hyunju Kim, Camerian Millsaps, Michael Line, Sara Walker
Summary: Inferring properties of exoplanets from their atmospheres is challenging due to technical and theoretical difficulties. This study implements a multivariate approach to identify optimal predictors of disequilibria in exoplanet atmospheres, specifically focusing on the prediction of vertical mixing in hot Jupiter atmospheres. The results indicate that the set of optimal predictors varies with planetary properties, and that network topological variables can perform as well as or better than individual variables.
ASTRONOMICAL JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Stuart M. Marshall, Douglas G. Moore, Alastair R. G. Murray, Sara Walker, Leroy Cronin
Summary: Assembly theory explores the extrinsic information required to distinguish a given object from a random ensemble. It deconstructs an object into its irreducible parts and evaluates the minimum number of steps required to rebuild it. This approach helps identify the physical and chemical laws needed to understand life by quantifying its behavior.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Patrick McMillen, Sara Walker, Michael Levin
Summary: There is a growing recognition of the importance of collective information processing by cells in the fields of cell biology and developmental biology. To quantitatively understand these processes at the systems level, a guide for applying established information theory metrics to biological datasets is presented. A computational tool called CAIM is introduced for the simple and rigorous application of these metrics to time series datasets. CAIM is used to study calcium and cytoskeletal actin information flow patterns between Xenopus laevis embryonic animal cap stem cells.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Abhishek Sharma, Daniel Czegel, Michael Lachmann, Christopher P. Kempes, Sara I. Walker, Leroy Cronin
Summary: Scientists propose assembly theory (AT) as a framework that connects physics and biology. In AT, objects are redefined and measured by their possible formation histories. This theory provides a unified language for explaining selection, evolution, and novelty generation.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Abhishek Sharma, Daniel Czegel, Michael Lachmann, Christopher P. Kempes, Sara I. Walker, Leroy Cronin
Summary: Scientists have struggled to reconcile biological evolution with the laws of physics. To understand the emergence of diverse forms without a design blueprint, a new framework called assembly theory (AT) has been proposed. AT redefines the concept of an object and incorporates selection and novelty generation into the physics of complex objects. It provides a powerful interface between physics and biology, revealing new aspects of physics at the chemical scale.
Article
Psychology, Biological
Jake R. Hanson, Sara Walker
Summary: The scientific study of consciousness is currently facing a critical transition as the debate on the scientific validity of proposed theories, particularly Integrated Information Theory (IIT), intensifies. While epistemological issues have challenged IIT, the abstract nature of these arguments makes it difficult to fully understand their implications. This highlights the importance of establishing concrete criteria for falsification in theories of consciousness to ensure their validity.
NEUROSCIENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS
(2021)
