Life in outer space

“the origin of life”

Jose Gutierrez-Marcos
j.f.gutierrez-marcos@warwick.ac.uk
1
https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/astro/ceh/
 Think about possible ways to
address this questions:

1. How will you identify an organism that could

survive an arsenate-rich/frozen planet?

2. How will you study genetic/biochemical

adaptations in this organism(s)?

3. How this could help to narrow the search for

life in outer space?

2
Lecture Aims
 Origin of the earth
 Origin of the atmosphere
 Formation of oceans
 Origin of life
 Changing the atmosphere

 Life in other planets?

 Life in outer space?

3
Provability of finding life in the Universe

Frank Drake, 1961

4
Origin and Early Evolution of Earth
 Age of universe is ~ 14.5 Byrs, about 10 Byrs older than Earth

 Early universe had only protons & helium nuclei as condensed

particles we are familiar with, rest was elementary particles &
radiation

 First stars formed from hydrogen and helium, the rest of the
elements formed in protostars by nucleosynthesis

 Stars of a certain critical size exploded as supernovae, scattering

hydrogen, He & newly formed elements as intergalactic “dust”. Other
stars became “black holes”, brown dwarfs, etc.

 Inhomogeneities in dust clouds led to formation of secondary stars,

similar to our sun, but now could contain orbiting debris formed from
elements in 1st generation stars.

 Inherited angular momentum caused debris to orbit main

condensation center, and eventually gave rise to orbiting planets

5
 Stage in planetary evolution
• Planetesimals- small
bodies formed from dust
and gas

• Protoplanets- formed
from planetesimals

• Planets- formed by
combining protoplanets
swept up by gravitational
attraction.

Evidence of planetary formation?

Beta Pictoris – a solar system in the making

6
Stages in formation of Early Earth
From (A) a inhomogeneous, low-
density protoplanet to (B) a dense,
differentiated planet

Cross section through a spinning disk-

shaped nebular cloud illustrating
formation of planets by condensation of
planetesimals. Temperatures refer to
conditions at initial condensation.

Orion Nebula it is one of the closest

stellar nurseries to us (1,500 light years).
The whole cloud easily spans over several
hundred light years. Here you can see
recently formed stars as they blink on in
the interior of the dust cloud. 7
 Origin of the atmosphere
 The original atmosphere
 Probably made up of hydrogen and helium.
 These are fairly common in the universe.

 Original atmosphere stripped away by the solar

wind
 H and He are very light
 Hydrogen and helium have the smallest atoms by mass.
 The early earth was not protected by a magnetic field.
 Thus the current atmosphere is secondary
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 The secondary atmosphere
 Formed from degassing of
volcanoes

 Gasses emitted probably

similar to the gasses emitted
by volcanoes today.
 H2O (water), 50-60%
 CO2 (carbon dioxide), 24%
 SO2 (sulfur dioxide), 13%

 CO (carbon monoxide),
 S2 (sulfur),
 Cl2 (chlorine),
 N2 (nitrogen),
 H2 (hydrogen),
 NH3 (ammonia) and 9
 CH4 (methane)
 Secondary atmosphere was
protected by Earth magnetosphere

 Interaction between the earth’s magnetosphere and the

solar wind.
 Early in the Earth’s formation the solar wind blew the light
gases, H an He to the farther reaches of the solar system.
 Secondary atmosphere protected by magnetic field
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 Evolution of atmosphere

• Disappearance of hydrogen (H) and methane (CH4).

• Rapid reduction in CO2 and increase in oxygen

Note: presence of the noble gases (Ar, Ne, He and Kr) is most likely from the degassing upper 11
mantle (volcanoes) which continues to today.
 Modern atmosphere

Volcanic degassing Modern

Atmosphere
H2O – 50-60% N2 – 78%
CO2 – 24% O2– 21%

SO2 – 13% CO2– 0.03%

Questions:
• Where did all the O2 come from?
• Where did all the CO2 go?

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 Formation of the oceans
 The earth is cool enough that H2O condenses to form
the oceans.
 Estimates of the amount of H2O outgassed is not enough to fill
the oceans
 It seems likely that a large volume of water was added by the
impact of icy meteors on the atmosphere.
 CO2 dissolves into the oceans.

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 In the oceans life evolves
 Ingredients necessary for life
 NH3 – ammonia
 CH – Methane
4
 H O – Water
2
 These can produce amino acids,
the building blocks of life

More about this later…

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 Evolution of life
 Life may have originated
in three places:
 under the primitive
atmosphere
 or at hydrothermal vents
deep in the oceans
 or deep in the earth’s
crust

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Early history of life and the atmosphere
 The Earth is about 4.5 billion years old.

 Life first appears in the oceans at least 3.5

billion years ago.

 0.9 billion years ago there is enough oxygen

in the atmosphere to produce the ozone
layer and life can finally move onto land.
 The ozone layer protects the earth from
harmful ultra violet radiation from the sun.

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 Life changes the atmosphere
 With the origin of life the first cellular organisms
(cyanobacteria) began to use the gasses in the early atmosphere
(NH3 – ammonia, CH4 – methane, H2O – water) for energy.
 Photosynthetic organisms colonize the planet.
 These organisms use CO2 and produce oxygen (O2) as a waste
product.

Stromatolites in Shark Bay

(Australia)
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 Oxygenation of terrestrial environment
Nature vol 469 11Nov2010

 Recent study carried out ancient sedimentary successions (Scotland)

 Estimate sulfate isotope fractionation (sulphate->sulphide) as a measure of microbial activity

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 Oxygenation of terrestrial environment
Nature vol 469 11Nov2010

 Data suggest high microbial activity in sea bed associated with limited oxygenation in the oceans and high oxygenation in surface environments
 These differences have been predicted to have an impact in the evolution of distinct ecological systems- a important step in the colonization of earth ’s surface

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Earth atmospheric evolution
 Where did the O2 come from?
 Produced by photosynthetic life.

 Where did the CO2 go?

 Dissolves in water in the oceans
 Used by life by photosynthesis and buried
when plants and micro-organisms die.
 The source of coal and oil

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Fundamental Properties of Life
 cellular organization
 sensitivity
 growth
 development
 reproduction
 regulation
 homeostasis
 heredity

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Origin of Life Hypotheses
 Special creation
 Supernatural or divine origin
 Extraterrestrial origin
 Panspermia
 Spontaneous origin
 Life originated from inanimate materials

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 Reducing Atmosphere
 Life most likely emerged under high-
temperature conditions.
 Early atmosphere is often referred to as a
reducing atmosphere.
 exact conditions unknown
 ample availability of hydrogen atoms
 very little oxygen

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Origin of Life - Location
 Ocean’s edge
 bubble hypotheses
 Under frozen seas
 problematic due to necessary conditions
 Deep in Earth’s crust
 byproduct of volcanic activity
 Within clay
 positively-charged clay
 Deep-sea vents
 conditions suitable for Archaea

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 Miller-Urey Experiment
 Attempted to reproduce early
reducing atmosphere and
produce organic compounds
from inorganic materials
 hydrogen-rich
 electrical discharge
 succeeded in producing
amino acids

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 Miller-Urey Experiment
 First report in 1953
 Tested Alexander Oparin's and
Haldane's abiogenesis hypothesis
 Simple organic compounds can be
created

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 Abiotic synthesis of amino acids in early
oceanic lithosphere
Menez et al., (2018) Nature 254:59

• Deep rock samples collected from Lost City- a

hydrothermal vent on Atlantis Massive (Mid-
Atlantic Ocean)
• Tryptophan detected in Fe-rich deposits
(Saponite)
• Saponite is an acid catalyst widely used in
industry for organic synthesis
Chemical Evolution
 Ongoing debate concerning actual path:
 RNA World - Molecules could not have
consistently formed without a mechanism of
heredity.
 Protein World - Replication would be
impossible without enzymes.
 Peptide-Nucleic Acid World - RNA is too
unstable, thus a precursor must have
existed.

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 RNA world
 Hypothesis that the first genes were short strands of RNA
 Small RNA molecules can form abiotically by polymerization of free nucleotides
 RNA molecules can self-replicate
 RNA can fold into 3-D structures that act as simple enzymes- ribozymes.
 Molecules are important catalysts in modern cells. These RNA catalysts are called
ribozymes.
 Ribozymes also help catalyze the synthesis of new RNA polymers [rRNA, tRNA, mRNA].
 In the pre-biotic world, RNA molecules may have been fully capable of ribozyme-catalyzed
replication

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 RNA world
 Laboratory experiments have demonstrated that RNA sequences can evolve in abiotic conditions.
 RNA molecules have both a genotype (nucleotide sequence) and a phenotype (three dimensional
shape) that interacts with surrounding molecules.
 Under particular conditions, some RNA sequences are more stable and replicate faster and with
fewer errors than other sequences.
 RNA-directed protein synthesis may have begun as weak binding of specific amino acids to bases
along RNA molecules.
 This is one function of rRNA today in ribosomes.
 RNA may have been capable of synthesizing a short polypeptide (a simple protein) that behaved as an enzyme
helping RNA replication.

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 How ribozymes work?
Science 2009 vol.326 pp1271-

 RNA structure reveals a “tripod scaffold” with a ligation domain

likely to be important for catalysis
 Similar to the catalysis domain found in protein RNA polymerases
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 Cell Origin Theories
 Bubble theories
 Certain molecules spontaneously form bubbles.
 would serve to shield hydrophobic regions from
contact with water
 supports ocean’s edge scenario
 Alexander Oparin’s Bubble Hypothesis (1924)
 Primary abiogenesis - protobionts allowed chemical
complexity to develop
 Many different bubble scenarios have been proposed.
 No agreement about composition or how the process
occurred

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 Cell Origin Theories
 Protobionts: aggregates of abiotically produced molecules
capable of isolating an internal environment different
from its surroundings and showing properties of living
cells.
 In the laboratory, droplets of abiotically produced
organic compounds, called liposomes, form when lipids are
added with proteinoids and phosphate.
 The lipids form a molecular bilayer at the droplet surface,
much like the lipid bilayer of a membrane.
 Undergo osmotic responses
 Store energy as a membrane potential
(voltage cross the surface).

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 Protobionts
 If enzymes are included among the ingredients, they are
incorporated into the droplets.
 Protobionts that formed in the “organic soup” would not have
possessed refined enzymes, the products of inherited
instructions.
 However, some molecules produced
abiotically do have weak catalytic capacities.
 There could well have been protobionts
that had a rudimentary metabolism that
allowed them to modify substances they
took in across their membranes.
 Without some mechanism of exact replication, no possible to
perpetuate successful protobionts.

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 Hereditary information in
Protobionts
 RNA genes and their polypeptide products are packaged within
a membrane, thus the protobionts could have evolved as units.

 Molecular cooperation could be refined because favorable

components were concentrated together, rather than spread
throughout the surroundings.
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 Protocell self-assembly from mixed
fatty acids
Jordan et al., (2019) Nature Ecol. Evol

• Deep-sea alkaline hydrothermal conditions should have promoted

the synthesis of long-chain amphiphiles
• Amphilite mixtures can self-assemble into protocells

Fatty acid mixtures form Salts promote the formation of filaments

vesicles under oceanic alkaline
hydrothermal conditions
Earliest Cells
 Microfossils have been found in rocks as
old as 3.5 billion years old in Western
Australia.
 resemble prokaryotes
 lack nucleus of more complex eukaryotes

fossil living 37
 Archaebacteria
 Extreme-condition prokaryotes
 Lack peptidoglycan in cell walls
 methanogens
 extreme halophiles
 extreme thermophiles
 Thought to have split from Bacteria 2 bya.

Chroococcalean 1.8bya Palaeolyngbya 1.8bya Grypania 2.1bya

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Fossil archeabacteria found in rock formations
Bacteria
 Second major group of prokaryotes
 Strong cell walls
 Simpler gene structure
 Contains most modern prokaryotes
 includes photosynthetic bacteria
 cyanobacteria

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 -Stromatolites-
fossilized bacterial mats
 Photosynthetic
 Responsible of Earth’s atmospheric change
 Formed in hypersaline areas where other
organisms can not survive.
 Modern Stromatolites Shark Bay Australia

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 First Eukaryotic Cells
 Eukaryotes probably arose about 1.5 bya.
 Internal membrane-bound structures such as
mitochondria and chloroplasts are thought to have
evolved via endosymbiosis.
 Energy-producing bacteria were engulfed by larger
bacteria forming a beneficial symbiotic relationship

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 Endosymbiosis
 Multiple endosymbiotic events
 Responsible of the formation
of various unicellular
organisms
 Green-Red algae lineages
 Apicomplexa- mostly
parasitic organisms
 Dinophyta- most are
marine plankton or part of
coral colonies

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First Eukaryotic Cells
 Sexual reproduction
 Eukaryotic cells can reproduce sexually,
thus allowing for genetic recombination.
 Genetic variation is the raw material necessary
for evolution.
 Multicellularity
 arisen many times among eukaryotes
 fosters specialization

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 Summary
 Origin of the earth- condensation of particles
 Origin of the atmosphere- original and secondary.
Secondary volcanic nature is modified by photosynthetic
organisms.
 Formation of oceans- Icy meteors. Most likely place for
the origin of life.
 Changing the atmosphere- how cyanobacteria changed the
earth’s atmosphere
 Origin of life- most likely RNA. Cells may have originated
as protobionts that acquired genetic information.
 Eukaryotic cells- endosymbiotic origin.

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 Special Issue 2009
Scientific American
Origin of the Universe - pp36 - 43
Michael S. Turner

Origin of Life on Earth - pp54 - 61

Alonso Ricardo and Jack W. Szostak

http://www.nature.com/scientificamerican/journal/v301/n3/index.html 45
 Life in outer space

narrowing the search for

life
j.f.gutierrez-marcos@warwick.ac.uk 46
 How will you narrow down the search for life?

 How will you confirm the existence of life?

47
 Provability of finding intelligent life
in the Universe

Frank Drake, 1961

48
Lecture Aims

 Habitable worlds
 Life in other planets?
 Life in outer space?

49
 Hubble Space Telescope
image of Sedna-
Life in the Universe takes 10,500 years
to circle the Sun!

Our Solar System could host life in 9 (or 10 - Sedna discovered

in 2004) planets, moons, asteroids, comets and interplanetary
dust. Interplanetary Dust
Particle -10 µm across
made by dying and exploded stars

Milky Way galaxy has 100 billion stars (100,000,000,000).

Universe has 100 billion galaxies.
Many stars have planets.
Some like Jupiter and Saturn.
Some may be like Earth.
Potential for a large number of Earth-like planets (ELPs).

50
 Is Life Rare?

Hard to image, given the potentially large number of ELPs.

But we have no evidence of life outside of our own Earth.

Is life common?
- Life may be a natural process and part of the universe.
- Universe may be full of life.
- Earth is not “special”.

Is life rare?
- Origin of life a rare event, perhaps a singular event
despite the abundance of ELPs.
- Earth is “special”.

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 Life in the Solar System

 To look for life elsewhere, we need to search

for places where the basic necessities of life
exist – the habitable worlds.
 This eliminates most of worlds in our solar
system.
 Moon and Mercury are largely dry.
 Venus too hot for liquid water.
 Jovian planets (Jupiter and Saturn) are
gaseous.
 This leaves Mars and a few of the moons
orbiting the Jovian planets, notably Europa.

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 Habitability
 What is Habitability
 The Habitable Zone
 Environment of early Earth

53
Defining Habitability
 What do we mean when we say habitable?
 Earth-like animal life: specific requirements
(oxygen, water, dry land, temperature
range)
 Microbial life: broader set of conditions
(more extreme conditions ok)

Common basic requirements: water and

stable conditions.

54
What stabilizes the climate?
 Size - long-term heat source
 Stellar evolution - incoming solar energy
 Meteor impact rate - could result in
climate change
 Presence of large, natural satellite -
prevents large swings in obliquity
 Oceans - regulate global temperatures

55
 Why the earth?
 The Earth is the only (as far as we know)
habitable planet in our solar system?
 Two main properties:
 Abundant liquid water
 Stable environmental conditions that
maintain liquid water

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Liquid Water
 Influenced by temperature and
atmospheric pressure
 Used as a simple requirement for
identifying habitable planets

Where do planets in this temperature

range orbit?

57
 Liquid Water
 Where do planets in
this temperature

STAR
range orbit?
 Called the “Habitable
Zone”

Possible to estimate the best

probability for finding life

58
 How does stars affect the
Habitable Zone?
 Different sized stars have
different luminosities (energy)
 Brighter stars have Habitable
Zones farther out
 Stars have different
luminosities throughout their
lifetimes
 Continuous Habitable Zone:
maintains conditions suitable
for life throughout the
lifetime of a star

Other factors to consider:

• Albedo moves HZ inwards when the atmosphere
moves the HZ outwards
• Carbon dioxide stabilizes temperatures 59
Importance of the Carbon Cycle
 Carbon Dioxide acts
as a Thermostat
 Extends to HZ for Earth-  Carbon sources:
like planets  Volcanic outgassing
 Reduces temperature  De-carbonation
extremes
 Organic carbon

 Carbon sinks:
 Calcium carbonate
formation
 Photosynthesis

60
 Characteristics that make a
habitable planet
 Size of planet
 Internal heat (comet impact & radiation)
 Sustain liquid water (geothermal or tidal)
 Stable luminous stars necessary
 Sufficiently long lifetime for life to evolve
 Large enough so planets are not tidally lock

 Galactic habitability
 Area of high metals
 Outer region of galaxy (low star density and
radiation)
61
 Characteristics that make a
habitable planet
 Galactic habitability
 Area of high metals
 Outer region of galaxy
 low star density
 Low radiation

62
 Are there any exceptions to
the habitable zone?
 Yes, if there are sources of energy other
than a star to keep a planet (or moon) warm.
 Possible energy sources:

 Radioactivity (metal composition)

 Rotation and gravitation (tides by natural
satellites)

63
Life the Solar System?

64
 Life on Mars?
 Early Mars:
 Evidence of significant
amounts of flowing liquid.
 Warmer temperatures:
 Heat from interior
would have been higher
 Warm climate from
greenhouse gases or
CO2 clouds
 Current Mars:
 Not evidence of life
 Erosion may be due to
underground liquid water
 Carbon cycle not as active as
on Earth
65
 Life on Mars?
 Percival Lowell (1855-1916) thought he saw canals on Mars.
 Nevertheless, we have good evidence the liquid water once
flowed on the Martian surface.
 Today it contains subsurface ice which could be heated to form
areas of liquid water underground.

Red & Yellow: frozen water and

CO2 in the Martian South polar
Images of the Martian North
cap
Polar cap 66
 Valles Marineris- evidence
for water in Mars?

 Erosion could have been created by water

flooding from lakes
 Best evidence to date of abundant water in
Mars
67
 Life on Mars?
 The Viking missions took soil samples and looked
for chemical changes that could be attributed to
biological processes.
 3 experiments suggested that life may have been
present, but also ordinary chemical reactions
could have caused the same results.
 A fourth experiment found little organic material,
the opposite of what one would expect if life
were present.

 Conclusion: not evidence

for life in Mars yet…
68
 Life on Mars?
 The Mars Phoenix mission detected water
under the surface.
 Pathfinder, Spirit and Opportunity studied the
Martian conditions to see if life might have
existed.
 The Mars Express orbiter detected methane
gas.
 Methane should disappear within a few centuries
due to chemical reactions.
 So, something is supplying Mars with methane.
 It could come from comet impacts, volcanoes, or
life.
 Volcanism seems to be the most likely candidate. 69
 Mars curiosity space program

 Curiosity landed in Gale Crater (2013)

 Will study Martian rocks and minerals that hold clues to whether Mars ever
could have supported small life forms called microbes
 The 3-mile-high mound has multiple rock layers. Each rock layer reveals a
different time in Mars’ history. Some have clays and sulfates, which both form
in water.
 Beyond signs of water, the rover will look for signs of organics, the chemical
building blocks of life.

70

NASA/JPL-Caltech
Mars curiosity laboratory equipment

o To find out if Mars ever could have supported life,

the team built a lot of science tools on the rover to
study rocks and soil up close.
o Rocks hold the record of what past environments on
Mars were like.
71

NASA/JPL-Caltech
Mars curiosity sample analysers
APXS: CHEMIN: SAM:
Identifies Identifies Minerals, Identifies Organics,
Chemical Elements including those the Chemical
in Rocks formed in water Building Blocks of Life

On Hand In Body In Body

• All will determine what the rocks and soils are made of.
• That data will tell scientists about whether Mars had the right
72
chemistry for possibly supporting microbial life.
Martian meteorites

73
 Martian meteorites
 One meteorite which landed in Antarctica
13,000 years ago and found in 1984 was clearly
of Martian origin.
 Inside the meteorite were complex organic
materials and structures which looked like
nanobacteria , very small bacteria which have
been discovered on Earth.
 These structures can also be made by
chemical and geological means.
 Contamination from being on the Earth may
also explain the presence of organic materials.
74
 Extraterrestrial life in a martian
meteorite

McKay et al. (Science, 1996) proposed that martian meteorite ALH84001

contained traces of life on Mars (!)

75
 1

Evidence for life in ALH84001 (McKay et al.,

1996):

1) Bacteria-like morphologies

2) Organic compounds (PAH) 3

3) Magnetite grains

76
Life on Mars ? – the Allan Hills Meteorite
Magnetotactic bacteria from the
Allan Hills meteorite?

Magnetite (Fe3O4)

Bacterium from the

Allan Hills Meteorite?

Magnetite
Modern Magnetotactic bacteria

77
 Magnetotactic bacteria
Discovered in 1963 by Salvatore Bellini

Modern Magnetotactic bacteria

are:
• Halophiles
• Anaerobic
• Iron crystals in membrane
•Respond to oxygen swimming
South
• Related to Desulforhopalus
South-Seeking Magnetotactic Bacteria in the Northern Hemisphere 78
Science (2006) 311: 371-374
 Gas composition of martian meteorites
and earth rocks

79
Enrichment of methane in meteorite samples
Life on Europa?

 Europa has enough tidal heating to possibly

form a subsurface ocean underneath its icy
crust.
 Life there could form like the “black smokers”
on Earth.
 Larger life forms could exist in the vast
oceans, but energy sources are limited thus
limiting the size of any life there.
80
 Life on Europa?

 Hubble telescope detected oxygen in Europa

 Oxygen content on the surface is low but moderate under the ice core.
 May be sufficient to support life

81
 Europa
 Liquid water oceans
present on Jupiter’s
moon Europa
 Water in liquid form
under ice cores
 Perfect environment
for life

82
Life on other moons

Life on Ganymede, Callisto and Titan

 Ganymede and Callisto might have subsurface oceans,

but their internal heat is small and liquid water would
not be very abundant.
 Titan has no native liquid water, but an abundance of
organic materials.
 Could life evolve from the lakes of methane?
 Water might be brought in from comets, but this
would eventually freeze.

83
Life in Outer Space?

84
 Life around other stars
Beyond the Solar System
 Where in the Galaxy might we find life?
 Since technology might allow us to obtain
surface pictures or spectra, we restrict
ourselves to considering extrasolar planets
with habitable surfaces.
 So far all detected extrasolar planets (except
maybe one or two) are gaseous giants and are
unlikely to have surface life.
 However, they may be surrounded by moons
which may support life. 85
How to find a habitable planet?
 Two missions focused on identifying Earth-like
planets.
 Kepler will look for transits of planets across
other stars.
 Space Interferometer Mission (SIM) able to
detect Earth sized planets.
 A decade or so from now, the Terrestrial
Planet Finder (TPF) will be able to image
extrasolar planets.
 Infrared spectra from future telescopes can look
for signatures of life

86
 Exoplanets
 Detection methods:
 Spectroscopic methods
 Planetary transit method->transit photometry
technique
 Gravitational effects of planets -> radial
velocity method

87
Exoplanets
 Easy to detect
 Gas giants
 Planets near the mother star

88
More than 3,000 planets
discovered by Kepler

89

http://phl.upr.edu/press-releases
 Atmospheres of exoplanets

• 55 Cancrie- first terrestrial planet to

have its atmosphere measured
• Hydrogen and Helium detected, no
measurable water.

Tsiarias et al., 2016

90
 Atmospheres of exoplanets
• Very few rocky planets
measured, but several hot
gas giants

• Interesting trends:
 Many planets have
thick clouds
 Water detected in
planets without clouds
 Water most common
than previously
anticipated
91
 Detecting life in exoplanets
• Search for biomarkers
(oxygen, ozone, methane and
water)

• Caveat-gases can be created

by geological processes!

• Look for unstable combinations

• Will life be recognized if we

see it? Earth spectrum in transmission and
reflection

92
 Finding life in meteorites from outer-space

 Carbon isotope composition of individual amino acids in the Murchison meteorite (1990) Nature 348, 47 – 49
 Enrichment of the amino acid L-isovaline by aqueous alteration on CI and CM meteorite parent bodies. (2009)
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 April 7; 106(14): 5487–5492.
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Other missions to find evidence of life in
meteorites
 Rosetta and Philae (2004-2014) by ESA
 To detect organic compounds in Comet 67P/Churyumov-
Gerasimenko
 Detection methods: COSAC and PTOLEMY instruments

http://www.open.ac.uk/science/research/rosetta/mission/philae-lander

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Summary

 Only a small part of the universe may be

habitable
 Mars and Europa are the best candidates for
the existence of life in our solar system
 There are many other planets in the Universe
that can meet the requirements necessary for
life
 Meteorites are a good source of information to
discover evidence of life in the Universe.

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More information on this topic:
Exploring Life’s Origins:

 Visit: http://exploringorigins.org/index.html

Brian Cox’s Lecture Series:

 Wonders of the Universe

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00zdhtg/episodes/guide

 Wonders of Life (Scheduled Jan 2013)

Mars exploration by NASA:

 http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/

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 Think about possible ways to
address this questions:

1. How will you identify an organism that could

survive a frozen planet?

2. How will you study genetic/biochemical

adaptations in this organism(s)?

3. How this could help to narrow the search for

life in outer space?

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Could life be present in a frozen
planet?
Genetic prospecting in Lake Vostok

• Drill completed in February 2012

• Biological samples collected but not
published reports to date.
Genetic prospecting in Lake Vostok

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/antarcticas-hidden-lake-vostok-found-teem-life-f6C10561955
Life in a cryogenic environment
Lake Vida, November 2012
 Extreme environment of Lake Vida
(Antartica)

• Cryogenic temperatures (>-

20C) and high salinity (200
psu)
• Rich in N2O but lacks oxygen
• Similar to ice cores thought
to be present in Mars, Europa
and Encedalus.
Genetic evidence of life in Lake Vida

• Genome amplification of different

microbial species
•Metagenomic analysis identified
new microbial species
•Some already found in other
extreme environments

PAGE showing genome amplification of

samples from Lake Vida