Origin of life digest

Again quite a busy week, with fourteen articles in astrobiology, biochemistry and geophysics. The first article in astrobiology, by Brandenburg, investigates the various ways in which chirality enters astrophysics. Chou examines the agnostic life detection possibilities using mass spectrometry. Another article on chirality, by Globus, discusses how muon decay could have induced a biological preference for one type of chirality. Kruijver investigates the habitability of massive Earth-like exoplanets using a thermal evolution model and a model of carbon cycle, while Macdonald examines how planetary surface conditions affect climate and habitability using the ExoPlaSim GCM. Ranjan discusses UV transmission on early Earth, and Ryan applies PCA statistical learning to exoplanet ocean detection. Finally, Shen examines nitrogen cycling and biosignature detection in a Mars analog environment while Turbet questions the presence of oceans on early Venus using GCMs. In biochemistry, the first article by Abbas investigates the role of LLPS, and specifically that of a short peptide synthon, in protocell formation. Guo also examines phase separation, presenting a prebiotically plausible pathway for non-associative phase separation. Jordan discusses FeS cluster formation with cysteine, and Pinna the conservation across life and prebiotic character of ATP. Finally, the last article, in geophysics, Stockey suggests that oxygenation exerts a first-order control on (simulated) extinction vulnerability of marine animals, with implications in extinction control through geologic time. Happy reading !!

After a little hiatus, here is a new edition of the OoL digest with eight new papers published (and more to come very soon!). We have papers in astrobiology, biochemistry and planetary science this week. The first paper, by Limaye, introduces a collection of papers on the venusian cloud layer from a workshop in Russia in 2019. In the second paper, McGuire presents a census of molecular species detected in the ISM. The third astrobiology paper by Mogul presents an analysis of the potential for phototrophy in venusian clouds. In biochemistry, the first paper from Carter discusses the emergence of genetic coding. The second paper, by Fournier, presents an estimate for when cyanobacteria and photosynthesis first originated. In the last two biochemistry papers Rubio-Sánchez analyzes membrane phase transitions while Tang investigates the transition to multicellularity in cyanobacteria. Finally, in planetary sciences Johnson examines through computer modeling how much oxygen might have been present pre-GOE on early Earth. Happy reading!

Part two of this week’s digest, today we have papers in biochemistry & geophysics. In biochemistry, we first have a paper by Akbari that suggests a model of electroneutrality as a mean to elevate the concentrations of organic intermediates in early protocells. The second paper by Kahana examines the experimental evidence that lipid aggregates could have possessed the required configuration to seed life’s origin. The third paper, by Liu, explores prebiotic chemistry, gene sequences, plasticizers and opiates through molecular assembly. In the fourth paper, Matsuo investigates the conditions suitable for concurrent peptide generation and self-assembly. In geophysics, I’ve first included an interesting article from Scientific American that discusses the implications of Gan’s paper, published in January, on fungus-like fossils having contributed to making Earth habitable. The second paper by Gilabert suggests that volcanism did not cause the massive extinction of species in the late Cretaceous. The third paper, by Sánchez-García, examines the use of biomarkers through a multianalytical platform combining lipid-derived biomarkers, metaproteomics and a so-called ‘life-detector chip’. Finally, the fourth paper by Selensky investigates the possibility of deep subsurface biospheres fueled by in situ chemolithoautothophy. Happy reading !

This week’s digest contains many publications so it is divided into two parts, the second part will be published toworrow. Today I’ll be focusing on astrobiology papers. The first three papers by Turbet, Sergeev and Fauchez describe results from the TRAPPIST-1 Habitable Atmosphere Intercomparison, which consist in GCM modeling of the TRAPPIST-1e spectroscopic features as seen by JWST, and subsequent habitability states. The fourth paper, by Gobat, studies the process of panspermia by modeling the probability of successful travel of organic compounds between stars with habitable planets. The fifth paper, by Höning, investigates the early habitability of Venus. The following paper by Kong reports machine learning applications on habitable planetary systems classification. We then have another paper, by Messmer this time, that applies statistical learning to discern spectral patterns of biosignatures through Raman spectroscopy. Finally, the two last papers examine PH$_3$ generation pathways on rocky planets (Omran) and the connection between the size of Mars and its limited habitability (Tian). Stay tuned for the second part!

In this week’s OoL research, we have an article in the field of astrobiology from Oberg that presents the results of a chemical composition mapping of five young stars with the ALMA observatory, including organic molecules like nitriles, relevant for the OoL. In biochemistry, Maguire reports on a probiotic system incorporating an orthophosphate cycle that could have been part of the first metabolism on Earth, Johnson-Finn presents hydrothermal experiments suggesting minerals can enhance the complexity of organic product pathways for carboxylic acids, Sarkar reports experiments on wet-dry cycling and its effect on membrane formation/encapsulation, Walton presents a new ‘scum’ hypothesis aiming to overcome the instability of prebiotic membranes, Samulewski analyzes the interaction between ferrocyanide and minerals, concluding that the former may have been a source of cyanide on the primitive Earth, and Higgs proposes a set of three criteria for a set of chemical reactions to form a metabolism. Finally, we have an article in biology from Leslie that examines the evolution of complexity in plants, which would have occurred in two separate moments. Happy reading !

Quick one again this week: we have three articles, one in astrobiology and two in biology. The first one by Sarkar proposes a classification algorithm for planetary habitability from the point of view that Earth could be an anomaly. The second one, from Lindsey, is a phylotranscriptomics assessment of the volvocine algae suggesting multiple origins to cellular differenciation. Finally, we also have a preprint by Mizuuchi that examines the complexification of a RNA lineage into developing regulatory networks. Happy reading!

Good morning everyone. We have five articles on the OoL in this week’s digest. In astrobiology, Wallner reports on an abiotic pathway for $O_2$ production that could be a major source in exoplanetary atmospheres. In biochemistry, Attal suggests a temperature-driven mechanism for protocell fission, Busseniers suggests a new model called Chemical Organization Theory to account for prebiotic network formation, Matreux analyzes ion balancing mechanisms that promote RNA folding, and Robinson examines self-organization processes through varying environmental conditions. Enjoy!

Quick one this week – only three articles. In Astrobiology, Madhusudhan investigates a new class of exoplanets with densities between that of rocky super-Earths and mini-Neptunes. In Earth Sciences, Meixnerová suggests that atmospheric oxygen concentration on early Earth would have followed a surge in marine microorganisms favored by volcanic eruptions, and Shizuya discusses the transition from Snowball Earth following the analysis of rock samples from China. Happy reading !

Good afternoon! This week in OoL, three astrobiology preprints/papers: an addendum to the phosphine debate by Greaves, a review of biosignatures by Rimmer and a discussion of Early Earth habitability by Rivera-Valentin. In biology, we have an analysis of early life form morphologies by Kanaparthi, and a discussion on the multiple pathways to life hypothesis by Kempes. Happy reading!

Good morning everyone. In this week’s digest, we mostly have papers in the field of astrobiology, plus one last paper in biochemistry. In astrobiology, Barnes presents the science goals of the upcoming Dragonfly mission that is planned to land on Titan in the mid-2030s, Graham demonstrates that high pCO$_2$ reduces the impact of CO$_2$ fluctuations throughout the habitable zone, Hyodo discusses the science goals of the upcoming Martian Moons eXploration mission, Méndez reviews habitability models relevant for astrobiology and Song presents a 2D cloud-resolving model for tidally locked planets around M and K dwarfs. Finally, in biochemistry Philippi investigates N$_2$ fixation in Proterozoic analogue conditions. Happy reading!