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August 11, 2025

OoL digest — August 11

This week we have 23 new papers on the origin of life. Enjoy!


Astrobiology

Stable Isotope Abundance Patterns as Potential Biosignatures
Des Marais et al. — Astrobiology

Comparing Protein Stability in Modern and Ancient Sabkha Environments: Implications for Molecular Remnants on Ancient Mars
Hu et al. — International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Mineral Microbiomes Entombed in Great Salt Lake Gypsum: Considerations for Martian Evaporites
Martinez-Koury et al. — Astrobiology

Modelling exo-biospheres for biosignature predictions
Nicholson — Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

The diversity of exoplanetary environments and the search for signs of life beyond Earth
Seager et al. — Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

21st-Century Astrobiology Missions Should Seek These High-Confidence Biosignatures in Mid-Latitude Martian Ice
Temby et al. — preprint


Astrochemistry

A Two-Stage End-to-End Deep Learning Approach for Predicting Astrochemical Reactions
Wang et al. — Intelligent Computing


Biochemistry

Reproducible Ala-Gly oligomerization catalyzed by the natural Borate colemanite in prebiotic conditions
Rimoldi et al. — Scientific Reports


Biology

Chance and purpose in the evolution of biospheres
Donoghue et al. — Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Atmospheric oxygen and methane on the early Earth
Kasting et al. — Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

The evolution of Gaia(s)
Lenton — Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

The emergence of metabolisms through Earth history and implications for biospheric evolution
Moody et al. — Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

On the emergence of metabolism: the evolution of proteins that powered life
Nanda et al. — Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Top-Down Coercive Mechanisms and the Major Transitions in Evolution
Suárez et al. — BioEssays

The hard steps model and whole Earth-system transitions
Watson — Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

What the earliest evidence for life tells us about the early evolution of the biosphere
Westall — Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences


Biophysics

Bioenergetics evolution: the link between Earth’s and Life’s history
Padalko et al. — Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences


Chemistry

Methanetetrol and the final frontier in ortho acids
Marks et al. — Nature Communications


Microbiology

Assessment of methods for evaluating structural stability of cell envelope fragments in hypersaline brines as biosignatures of ancient microbial life
Bourmancé et al. — Scientific Reports

Complex multicellularity linked with expanded chemical arsenals in microbes
Currie et al. — preprint

DPANN Archaea and CPR Bacteria: insights into early cellular evolution?
Mahendrarajah et al. — Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences


Planetary Sciences

Characterization of ferric hydroxysulfate on Mars and implications of the geochemical environment supporting its formation
Bishop et al. — Nature Communications

Artificial Seawater Models Affect Sorption of Adenine and Related Molecules Sorption onto Montmorillonite: Implications for Early Mars and Earth Oceans
Ferreira et al. — ACS Omega

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