Origin of Life Digest logo

Origin of Life Digest

Subscribe
Archives
September 1, 2025

OoL digest — September 1st

This week we have 16 new papers on the origin of life. Enjoy!


Astrobiology

Exploring organic compound preservation through long-term in situ experiments in the Atacama desert and the relevance for Mars
Arens et al. — Scientific Reports

From the Biosphere to the Geosphere: Assessing Lipid Biomarker Taphonomy Through a Lithification Gradient
L. Finkel et al. — Astrobiology

Stable Nitrogen Isotope Analysis of Amino Acids by Orbitrap Mass Spectrometry: Application for Extraterrestrial Samples
McIntosh et al. — Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry

Chemistry in Retrieved Ryugu Asteroid Samples Revealed by Non-Invasive X-ray Microanalyses: Pink-Beam Fluorescence CT and Tender-Energy Absorption Spectroscopy
Northrup et al. — Geosciences


Biochemistry

Origins of life: the molecules that could have unlocked peptide synthesis
Dalal et al. — Nature

Life’s homochirality: Across a prebiotic network
Ozturk et al. — Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Thioester-mediated RNA aminoacylation and peptidyl-RNA synthesis in water
Singh et al. — Nature

The Origin of Biomolecular Homochirality
Wu et al. — preprint


Microbiology

Harnessing cosmic carbon: anaerobic microbial responses to fullerenes under early Earth conditions
Bethune et al. — Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbial iron oxide respiration coupled to sulfide oxidation
Chen et al. — Nature

How did life get multicellular? Five simple organisms could have the answer
Katsnelson — Nature


Planetary Sciences

Time of proto-Earth reservoir formation and volatile element depletion from 53Mn-53Cr chronometry
Kruttasch et al. — Science Advances

From eons to epochs: multifractal geological time and the compound multifractal - Poisson process
Lovejoy et al. — Earth and Planetary Science Letters

Two-billion-year transitional oxygenation of the Earth’s surface
Wang et al. — Nature

Liquid water might not be the only answer: Evaluating pore-filling materials in the Martian crust
Xiao et al. — Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences


Synthetic Biology

Escherichia coli with a 57-codon genetic code
Robertson et al. — preprint

Don't miss what's next. Subscribe to Origin of Life Digest:
Powered by Buttondown, the easiest way to start and grow your newsletter.