![]() ![]() The biomolecules found in terran life appear to have molecular structures that create properties specifically suited to the demands imposed by water. Terran biomolecules interact with water to be soluble (or not) or to react (or not) in a way that confers fitness on a host organism.The biomolecules that terran life uses to support metabolism, build structures, manage energy, and transfer information take advantage of the covalent bonding properties of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur and the ability of heteroatoms, primarily oxygen and nitrogen, to modulate the reactivity of hydrocarbons.To have directed chemical transformations, terran living systems exploit a thermodynamic disequilibrium.It is chemical in essence terran living systems contain molecular species that undergo chemical transformations (metabolism) under the direction of molecules (enzyme catalysts) whose structures are inherited, and heritable information is itself carried by molecules.(Many have come to recognize that the concept of “definition” itself is difficult to define) We can, however, list characteristics of the one example of life that we know-life on Earth: The NASA definition of life, “Life is a self-sustaining chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution” and considered the specific features of the one life we know -Terran life.īackground from The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems.įor generations the definition of life has eluded scientists and philosophers. If you would like to contribute, please submit content here. ![]() The types of content we’re collecting includes studies, workshops, literature, white papers, videos, links, and other resources that already exist on this topic. To help with the development of strategies towards formalizing plans for life detection missions, we are collecting life detection content that already exists that will hopefully be used to stimulate and support discussions about how one would detect extant life beyond Earth. ![]()
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