The Science of Astrobiology: A Personal View on Learning to Read the Book of Life, 2nd Edition

336 Pages·2011·11.29 MB·English

by  Julian Chela-Flores

The Science of Astrobiology
Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology
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Volume 20 (Second Edition)
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Julian Chela-Flores
The Science of Astrobiology
A Personal View on Learning to Read
the Book of Life
Julian Chela-Flores
The Abdus Salam International
Centre for Theoretical Physics
P.O. Box 586
34014 Trieste
Italy
The cupola in the West Atrium of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy
representing the biblical interpretation of Genesis
(Cf., also pp. 215-216 at the beginning of Part 4: The destiny of life in
the universe. With kind permission of the Procuratoria of St. Mark's
Basilica.)
For Sarah Catherine Mary
Table of contents
Table of contents vii
Preface xvii
Acknowledgements xi
Recommendations to the readers xxiii

INTRODUCTION
The cultural and scientific context of astrobiology

I.1 Early attempts to read the Book of Life 3
ARISTARCHUS OF SAMOS AND HIPPARCHUS 4
NICHOLAS OF CUSA (CUSANUS) 4
NICHOLAS COPERNICUS 4
GIORDANO BRUNO 5
CHARLES DARWIN 6
I.2 Some pioneers of the science of astrobiology 8
ALEXANDER OPARIN 8
STANLEY MILLER 10
SIDNEY W. FOX 11
CYRIL PONNAMPERUMA 12
JOHN ORO, 1ST MARQUESS OF ORÓ 13
I.3 Three strategies for astrobiological exploration 14
I.4 Inserting philosophy into astrobiology 17
I.5 Emphasizing the role of biology in astrobiology 17
I.6 Inserting physics in biology especially in astrobiology 18
I.7 Inserting the earth sciences in astrobiology 19
vii
viii THE SCIENCE OF ASTROBIOLOGY
I.8 New fingerprints of early life 23
I.9 Inserting paleontology into astrobiology 24
Supplementary Reading 26
References 27
THE BOOK OF LIFE
PART 1: THE ORIGIN OF LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE
CHAPTER 1.
From cosmic to chemical evolution

1.1 Beginnings of a rational cosmology based on physical constraints 31
1.2 Cosmological models 32
1.3 The cosmic microwave background 34
1.4 The growth of studies on the origin of life 35
1.5 Origin of the elements: from the big bang to the interior of stars 37
1.6 Supernovae: the source of biogenic dust 39
1.7 Molecular clouds and circumstellar disks 42
1.8 Stellar and biological evolution 43
Supplementary Reading 45
References 46

CHAPTER 2.
From chemical to prebiotic evolution
2.1 Organic Cosmochemistry 47
2.2 Precursor biomolecules in interplanetary dust 48
2.3 Cosmic dust and comets: their role in astrobiology 49
2.4 Origin of the Solar System: the Rosetta mission 51
2.5 Origin of the terrestrial planets 52
2.6 Origin of the Jovian planets 53
2.7 Origin of the moons in the outer Solar System 55
Supplementary Reading 55
References 56
TABLE OF CONTENTS ix

CHAPTER 3.
Sources of life’s origin: A search for biomarkers

3.1 The Moon and its water content as a mirror of the early Earth 57
3.2 Biogenic elements on asteroids 63
3.3 Biogenic elements on comets 64
3.4 Biogenic elements on meteorites 66
3.5 The Murchison meteorite 68
3.6 Biogenic elements in extreme terrestrial environments 70
3.7 A terrestrial analog to Europa in Antarctica: The dry valley lakes 72
3.8 A second terrestrial analog to Europa near the South Pole: Lake Vostok 75
3.9 A third terrestrial analog to Europa in the Canadian Arctic 76

Supplementary Reading 76
References 77

CHAPTER 4.
From prebiotic evolution to the emergence of single cells
4.1 Which are the macromolecules of life? 79
4.2 The primitive Earth 80
4.3 The origin of the first cell 81
4.4 A biochemical relic of the earliest stages of life 82
4.5 Symmetry in the cosmos 83
4.6 Symmetry in the life sciences 85
ASYMMETRY IN THE ANIMAL WORLD 85
ASYMMETRY IN THE MICROSCOPIC WORLD: CHIRALITY 85
HOMOCHIRALITY AS A BIOMARKER OF LIFE 86
ABDUS SALAM’S VISION OF SYMMETRY IN NATURE 87
THE ORIGIN OF CHIRALITY AND THE MURCHISON METEORITE 88
4.7 An analogy with languages: the genetic code 89
4.8 The origin of cellular organelles 90
4.9 From chemical to cellular evolution 91
4.10 The influence of the ancient Sun on the early evolution of life 91
4.11 Eventual deeper insights into the origin of life from solar missions 93