OoL digest — July 22 edition
This week we have 22 new papers on the origin of life. Enjoy!
Artificial life
From Text to Life: On the Reciprocal Relationship between Artificial Life and Large Language Models
Nisioti et al. — preprint
Astrobiology
Marine Science Can Contribute to the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Life
Aguzzi et al. — Life
Biosignature preparation for ocean worlds (BioPOW) instrument prototype
Duval et al. — Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences
Terrestrial Life in Light of the Copernican Principle
von Hegner — preprint
“Standoff Biofinder” for Fast, Noncontact, Nondestructive, Large-Area Detection of Biological Materials for Planetary Exploration
Misra et al. — Astrobiology
Radiolytic Effects on Biological and Abiotic Amino Acids in Shallow Subsurface Ices on Europa and Enceladus
Pavlov et al. — Astrobiology
Astrochemistry
Molecular complexity of young solar analogues
Bianchi et al. — preprint
Astrophysics
Setting the Stage for the Search for Life with the Habitable Worlds Observatory: Properties of 164 Promising Planet-survey Targets
Harada et al. — The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Probing Cold-to-Temperate Exoplanetary Atmospheres: The Role of Water Condensation on Surface Identification with JWST
Huang et al. — preprint
A roadmap for the atmospheric characterization of terrestrial exoplanets with JWST
de Wit et al. — Nature Astronomy
Retrievals Applied to a Decision Tree Framework Can Characterize Earthlike Exoplanet Analogs
Young et al. — The Planetary Science Journal
Biochemistry
Theoretical Analysis of Nonenzymatic RNA Replication within the Virtual Circular Genome Scenario
Burger et al. — preprint
Circular at the very beginning: on the initial genomes in the RNA world
Luo et al. — RNA Biology
DNA methylation enables recurrent endogenization of giant viruses in an animal relative
Sarre et al. — Science Advances
An ancestral fold reveals the evolutionary link between RNA polymerase and ribosomal proteins
Yagi et al. — Nature Communications
Chemistry
Template-based copying in chemically fuelled dynamic combinatorial libraries
Kriebisch et al. — Nature Chemistry
Selection for Photocatalytic Function through Darwinian Evolution of Synthetic Self-Replicators
Liu et al. — preprint
Reactions Driven by Primitive Nonbiological Polyesters
Poddar et al. — Accounts of Chemical Research
Geosciences
Resilience of Snowball Earth to Stochastic Events
Chaverot et al. — preprint
Carbonate uranium isotopes record global expansion of marine anoxia during the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event
Remírez et al. — Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Mathematical biology
Evolution of complexity and the origins of biochemical life
Gagrani — preprint
Physics
Open-ended versus bounded evolution: Mineral evolution as a case study
Hazen et al. — PNAS Nexus