Origin of life digest

Good morning everyone! This week we have a very diverse digest. In Astrobiology, Adams investigates nitrogen fixation processes in Early Mars’ atmosphere, Ilin examined TESS’ data and found that stellar flares would be less harmful to exoplanets than previously thought, and Milojevic analyzes the presence of phosphorus (not phosphine this time!) in the Venusian cloud deck and it’s eventual role in a biochemical cycle. In Biochemistry, we have an article by Bozdag that reports an experiment on snowflake yeast evolution towards multicellularity, and a preprint by Caldararo examines the optimality of the genetic code with respect to the partition energy of amino acids. Finally, in Geoscience, Klatt reports an experiment suggesting that increasing day length in Earth’s history could have contributed to the GOE. Happy reading !!

Good evening from Montreal. This week again there’s been a lot of very interesting research in fields related to the OoL. First, we have a paper in the field of Artificial Life, from Olivi, that reviews approaches for recreating a functional cell cycle in an artificial cell. In Astrobiology, Boukrouche develops a band-grey model to be applied on rocky exoplanets in a runaway greenhouse state, Huang reviews assessments of ammonia as a biosignature, Mayorga examines the Earth’s transmission spectra in order to determine if current methologies are sufficient to detect biosignature in similar exoplanetary spectra and Roth reports the detection by HST of a sublimated water atmosphere on Ganymede. We also have several papers in Biology: Chen examines how multicellularity can explain phylogenic patterns, Dunk investigates how complexity arises in cell-cycle regulation, Johnston analyzes the emergence of symmetry in the context of an algorithmic picture of evolution, Lyons reviews oxygen production in Earth’s middle history, and Sandström examines how HCN dimerization may be a key step in the formation of various prebiotic building blocks. Finally, in Paleontology we have a paper by Cavalazzi that reports the discovery of a 3.5 Gyr microfossil in South Africa. Happy reading !

Here is part two of this week’s digest. In the field of biochemistry, Dudin looked at the interplay between the sedimentation rate and the evolution of multicellularity, Podolsky published a Review of synthetic cell compartments, Trapp analyzed salt-induced peptide formation in early-Earth analogue conditions, Vidiella presents a gene network displaying self-organized critical behavior and Zamani-Dahaj examines the relationship between the emergence of heritability and the evolution of multicellularity. Finally, in mathematical biology Koduri analyzes how natural selection can favor cooperation. Happy reading !!

So much research published this week that I decided to split the digest in two parts. Today, we have several papers in the field of astrobiology: Bains presents another reanalysis of phosphine as a biosignature on Venus, and Cable reports on Titan’s organic chemistry chemistry and mineralogy, highlighting future research avenues, anticipating on NASA’s Dragonfly mission in the coming decade. Jahmidi-Azizi examines protein-ligand interactions in conditions analogue to Mars’s, and Paradise presents ExoPlaSim, a Global Climate Model extension of the original PlaSim that is designed to be applicable to a wider range of planetary conditions. Finally, in systems biology we have a paper by Brunk presenting a set of simple criteria for evaluating OoL scenarios. Happy reading !!

In this week’s OoL research, we have several new articles out. In astrobiology, Kotsyurbenko analyses the plausibility of Venusian clouds habitability, and Charlier suggests that the presence of strontium-84 on meteoritic material indicates an early accretion of water on Earth. In biochemistry, Ianeselli examines how gas bubbles in heated rock pores can induce the evolution of protocells, Ram analyses how the inheritance of mutation rates promotes adaptive evolution, and Cavalazzi presents the discovery of 3.42Gyrs old methanogens in volcanic substrates. Happy reading !!

Good morning from Montreal! In this week’s digest: in the field of astrobiology we have Lex Fridman’s podcast featuring Sara Walker on the origin of life methane in Enceladus’s plumes as a possible biosignature. In biochemistry, Schuster discusses possible ancestral nucleobases, OoLEN member Cyrille Jeancolas analyzes a self-reproductive recombinase ribozyme, and Bernardes shows that Chlamydomonas reinhardtii develops mutations providing the first steps towards multicellularity. In planetary science, Mitchell suggests that changes in Earth’s orbit may explain how life survived Showball Earth. Happy reading !

In this week’s digest, we have papers from several areas of OoL research. In biochemistry, Lennon analyzes a synthetically constructed minimal cell and Tupper examines non-enzymatic possibilities for RNA replication. In evolutionary biology, Olejarz looks at the evolutionary dynamics of the GOE. In paraeontology, Yang report the discovery of a fossil deposit from the Cambrian. Finally, in planetary science Hallsworth discusses the role of water activity in Venus’s clouds, McGeoch examines the presence of amino acids in meteorites, Seager analyzes the possibility of atmospheric life in sub-Neptune worlds, and Seales models the temporal evolution of the habitable zone for Earth-like exoplanets. Happy reading !

Time for a new edition of the Origin of Life digest! This week we have several articles in the subfield of astrobiology. In the first paper by Covone, we have an analysis of the hypothetical photosynthesis process around known exoplanets. Published in Nature, Kaltenegger evaluated which of those exoplanets could see Earth as a transiting exoplanet. We also have a paper taking a look at the habitability of red dwarfs, and the corresponding paradox according to which given their ubiquity we should be around one of them. On arXiv a preprint was submitted by Manna et al. reporting the detection of glycine in the ISM by the ALMA observatory. Finally, I’ve included this week’s SFI podcast Alien Crash Site featuring an interview with Cole Mathis where he discusses his recent research on assembly theory and biosignatures. Happy reading !!

In this weeks OoL digest, we have several articles on biosignatures, plus some discussions of thermodynamics’s role in life processes, climate regulation and planetary formation. In the field of astrobiology, we have an article by Barge and collaborators that report measurements suggesting Enceladus could support methanogenesis, Cross presents new modelling data of molecules identified as biosignatures and Patty discusses advances on remotely detecting chirality. In the biophysics category, I’ve included this week’s Complexity podcasts, where Mark Ritchie talks about cell thermodynamics. Finally, in planetary science Marlow analyzes the role of deep sea microbial populations in temperature regulation on Earth, and Paneque-Carreño reports advances about the gravitational instability hypothesis of planetary formation. Happy reading !!

Greetings from Montreal! A lot of amazing new research out this week – and part of it comes from OoLEN members! First, I’ve included the current issue of the Santa Fe Institute podcast where Natalie Grefenstette talks about agnostic biosignature detection. In biochemistry, OoLEN members Silke Asche and Cole Mathis coauthored a paper on automating Origin of Life experiments and Tony Jia published one on compartmentalization. In biophysics, Akbari suggests a set of physico-chemical constraints for living systems, Dye looks at tissue self-organization in the Drosophila and Stolar analyzes mechanochemical peptide bond formation. Finally, in planetary science, Martin revisits water formation on Earth and Nibauer looks at the dependance of planetary systems on stellar chemical abundance patterns. Happy reading !!