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image/svg+xml Jakob Voss, based on art designer at PLoS, modified by Wikipedia users Nina and Beao Closed Access logo, derived from PLoS Open Access logo. This version with transparent background. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Closed_Access_logo_transparent.svg Jakob Voss, based on art designer at PLoS, modified by Wikipedia users Nina and Beao Astrobiologyarrow_drop_down
image/svg+xml Jakob Voss, based on art designer at PLoS, modified by Wikipedia users Nina and Beao Closed Access logo, derived from PLoS Open Access logo. This version with transparent background. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Closed_Access_logo_transparent.svg Jakob Voss, based on art designer at PLoS, modified by Wikipedia users Nina and Beao
Astrobiology
Article . 2024 . Peer-reviewed
License: Mary Ann Liebert TDM
Data sources: Crossref
https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.0...
Article . 2023 . Peer-reviewed
Data sources: Crossref
Astrobiology
Article . 2024
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Translation as a Biosignature

Authors: Jordan M. McKaig; MinGyu Kim; Christopher E. Carr;

Translation as a Biosignature

Abstract

AbstractLife on Earth relies on mechanisms to store heritable information and translate this information into cellular machinery required for biological activity. In all known life, storage, regulation, and translation are provided by DNA, RNA, and ribosomes. Life beyond Earth, even if ancestrally or chemically distinct from lifeas we know itmay utilize similar structures: it has been proposed that charged linear polymers analogous to nucleic acids may be responsible for storage and regulation of genetic information in non-terran biochemical systems. We further propose that a ribosome-like structure may also exist in such a system, due to the evolutionary advantages of separating heritability from cellular machinery. Here, we use a solid-state nanopore to detect DNA, RNA, and ribosomes, and demonstrate that machine learning can distinguish between biomolecule samples and accurately classify new data. This work is intended to serve as a proof of principal that such biosignatures (i.e., informational polymers or translation apparatuses) could be detected, for example, as part of future missions targeting extant life on Ocean Worlds. A negative detection does not imply the absence of life; however, detection of ribosome-like structures could provide a robust and sensitive method to seek extant life in combination with other methods.One Sentence SummaryLife, defined as a chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution, likely requires an apparatus to translate heritable instructions into cellular machinery, and we propose to detect this as a biosignature of extant life beyond Earth.

Related Organizations
Keywords

Machine Learning, Nanopores, Protein Biosynthesis, Exobiology, RNA, DNA, Ribosomes

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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
2
Average
Average
Average
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