New frontiers in astrobiology / edited by Rebecca Thombre and Parag Vaishampayan.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Thombre, Rebecca S., 1980-

Vaishampayan, Parag.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Exobiology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam : Elsevier, 2022.

Contents:

Intro

New Frontiers in Astrobiology

Copyright

Contents

Contributors

Chapter 1: Standards of evidence in the search for extraterrestrial life

1. Introduction

2. Astrobiology is not only about life beyond Earth

3. Standards of evidence required in searching for life beyond Earth

3.1. Tier 1-One or more requirements for known life

3.2. Tier 2-All known requirements for at least one known organism

3.3. Tier 3-Indirect evidence for life

3.4. Tier 4-Direct discovery of life

3.5. Summary of evidence

4. Astrobiologists are not ``hunting´´ for alien life

5. Hypotheses about extraterrestrial life are not a betting game

6. Good scientific hypotheses are falsifiable, but not all falsifiable hypotheses are good

7. Conclusion

Postscript

Acknowledgments

References

Chapter 2: Prebiotic chemistry: From dust to molecules and beyond

2. The origins of key biomolecules

2.1. Central carbon metabolites

2.2. Sugars and nucleotides

2.3. Amino acids/peptides

2.4. Organosulfurs and lipids

2.5. Cofactors

2.6. Which prebiotic routes were actually part of protometabolism?

3. Chirality

3.1. Defining chirality

3.2. Chiral asymmetry, from atom to molecule and mineral

3.3. Enantiomeric excess-inducing processes

3.4. Chirality as a diagnostic tool for life detection missions

4. Beyond molecules: How functions relevant to life may emerge

4.1. How functions relevant to life may emerge from chemical systems

4.2. Network models as a framework to pose origins questions

4.3. Implications for the search for extraterrestrial life

5. Conclusions and future trends

5.1. Conclusions

5.2. Current and future trends

Chapter 3: Astrochemistry: Ingredients of life in space

1. Setting the stage

2. Elemental ingredients.

3. Interstellar molecules

3.1. Stardust

3.2. Diffuse molecular clouds

3.3. Dense clouds

3.4. Star-forming regions

3.5. Protoplanetary disks

4. Prebiotic ingredients

5. Future trends in astrochemistry

Chapter 4: Water and organics in meteorites

2. Water in meteorites

2.1. Hydrous mineral phases

3. Liquid water inclusions

4. Aqueous alteration on asteroid parent bodies

5. Organic matter in meteorites

5.1. Organic phases

5.2. Extraterrestrial organics and their significance for terrestrial biology

5.2.1. Amino acids

5.2.2. Nucleobases

5.2.3. Polyols

5.2.4. Carboxylic acids

5.3. The roles of water

6. Delivery of meteorites

6.1. Space weathering

6.2. Grand tack

6.3. Atmospheric entry heating

7. Terrestrial modification of meteorites

7.1. Atmospheric entry

7.2. Terrestrial residence

8. Terrestrial vs extraterrestrial origin

8.1. Water

8.2. Organic compounds

8.2.1. Isotopic analysis

8.2.2. Enantiomeric ratios

9. Challenges in meteoritic analyses and how that can be overcome by modern technology

9.1. Mineralogy and petrology

9.2. Typical sample preparation methods for organic analyses

9.3. Isotopic analysis

9.4. Compound-specific separation and characterization

9.5. Chronometric dating

10. Sample return space missions

10.1. Previous missions

10.2. Current missions

10.3. Other sample return mission concepts

11. Conclusions

Further reading

Chapter 5: From building blocks to cells

2. Coming together: From building blocks to protocells

2.1. Building compartments

2.2. Building a metabolism

2.3. Building functional macromolecules

2.4. Integration and continuity on the path to protocells

3. The path to LUCA: From protocells to cells.

3.1. The progenote era and the emergence of translation and the genetic code

3.2. The emergence of complex metabolic processes

3.3. Integration and continuity on the path to LUCA

4. Conclusion

Chapter 6: Microbial life in space

2. Space and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) environment

3. Microbial Experiments conducted in LEO

4. Microbial life in stratosphere

5. Effects of microgravity on microorganisms in space

5.1. Ground-based microgravity and hypergravity techniques

5.1.1. Clinostats

5.1.2. 3-D Clinostat/Random Positioning Machine (RPM)

5.1.3. Rotating wall vessel

5.1.4. Diamagnetic levitation

5.1.5. Centrifuge

5.2. Effects of microgravity on microorganisms

5.2.1. Cell growth

5.2.2. Secondary metabolism

5.2.3. Virulence and resistance

5.2.4. Proteomics and genomics under microgravity

5.3. Effects of hypergravity on microorganisms

6. Microbial diversity in the International Space Station (ISS)

7. Applications of microorganisms in space

7.1. Applications of microorganisms as microbial fuel cells (MFCs) in space

7.2. Applications of microbial proteins and molecules in space

7.3. Microbial diversity in spacecraft assembly room and planetary protection

7.4. Applications of microorganism in biomining

7.5. Application of microorganism for production of secondary metabolites in space

8. Conclusion

Chapter 7: Habitability in the Solar System beyond the Earth and the search for life

1. Habitability

2. Habitability of target locations for life detection missions

2.1. Mars's polar permafrost

2.2. Mars's ancient equatorial lakebeds

2.3. Enceladus's plume

2.4. Europa's surface

2.5. Venus's clouds

2.6. Titan-A special case: A surface liquid that is not H2O.

3. Other candidates for habitable worlds

4. Searching habitable worlds for a second genesis of life

5. Conclusion

Chapter 8: Habitable exoplanets

2. Measuring planetary habitability

3. Potentially habitable exoplanets

4. Searching for habitable worlds

5. A catalog of potentially habitable exoplanets

6. The nearest potentially habitable exoplanet

7. Searching for intelligence life

Chapter 9: Applications of omics in life detection beyond Earth

2. Nucleic acids sequencing

3. Proteomics

4. Metabolomics and lipidomics

5. Omics techniques and future missions

6. Conclusion

Chapter 10: Life detection in space: Current methods and future technologies

2. Biosignatures for life detection

2.1. Amino acids

2.2. Phospholipids and fatty acids

2.3. Nucleotides, DNA, and RNA

2.4. Dipicolinic acid (DPA)

3. Where to look for life in the solar system?

3.1. Mars

3.2. Europa

3.3. Enceladus

4. Mars missions in search of life and biosignatures

4.1. The Viking mission-The first extant life detection mission on Mars

4.2. The Mars Pathfinder, Mars Exploration Rover, and Phoenix missions

4.3. The MSL and ExoMars missions-Looking for organic molecules on the Martian surface

4.4. Life detection through Mars sample return

5. Signatures of life and how to detect them

5.1. Detection of intact microbes

5.2. Detection of organic biosignatures of extant and extinct life

5.3. Nonorganic solvent extraction

5.4. SCHAN-Supercritical CO2 and subcritical H2O ANalysis instrument

6. Conclusions

Acknowledgment

Chapter 11: Future of life in the Solar System and beyond

2. Futures studies and space exploration.

3. A brief history of human spaceflight

3.1. The space race

3.2. The era of space cooperation

3.3. The new space era

4. Permanent space settlements

4.1. Food production on Mars

4.2. Biosecurity on Mars

4.3. Bioinnovation on Mars

5. Terraforming

6. World ships and interstellar travel

Chapter 12: Planetary protection: Scope and future challenges

1. Planetary protection in practice

1.1. International planetary protection policy

1.2. Planetary protection requirements

1.3. Impact of current scientific consensus on planetary protection

1.3.1. Science changing planetary protection categorization

Mars

Europa

Sample return from Phobos

1.3.2. Science changing planetary protection implementation

Heat microbial reduction

Vapor hydrogen peroxide

Total adenosine triphosphate

2. Leveraging science to enable missions

2.1. Importance of astrobiology to planetary protection

2.2. Astrobiological testbeds and space-analog Earth environments

2.3. Tools of the trade-Balancing limits of detection and technology infusion considerations for PP

3. Planetary protection future challenges

3.1. International science and engineering collaboration and coordination for PP policy and processes

3.2. Increased nature and sensitivity of scientific payloads

3.3. Human exploration to Earths Moon and Mars

Chapter 13: Universal constraints to life derived from artificial agents and games*

2. Application of evolutionary game theory

2.1. Evolutionary game theory

2.2. Cooperation and defection

2.3. Relevant applications

3. Models and simulation methods

4. Simulation experiments

4.1. PD basic with patches

4.2. PD basic with turtles

4.3. PD turtles with birth and death

4.4. Tit-for-tat.

Notes:

Print version record.

Other Format:

Print version:

Print version: NEW FRONTIERS IN ASTROBIOLOGY.

ISBN:

9780323859271

0323859275

OCLC:

1331706407

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.