Substance providing scientific evidence of past or present life
For other uses, see Biomarker (disambiguation).
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A biosignature (sometimes called chemical fossil or molecular fossil) is any substance – such as an element, isotope, molecule, or phenomenon – that provides scientific evidence of past or present life on a planet.[1][2][3] Measurable attributes of life include its complex physical or chemical structures, its use of free energy, and the production of biomass and wastes.
The field of astrobiology uses biosignatures as evidence in the search for past or present extraterrestrial life.
^Steele; Beaty; et al. (September 26, 2006). "Final report of the MEPAG Astrobiology Field Laboratory Science Steering Group (AFL-SSG)" (.doc). The Astrobiology Field Laboratory. U.S.: the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) - NASA. p. 72.
^"Biosignature - definition". Science Dictionary. 2011. Archived from the original on 2010-03-16. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
^Summons RE, Amend JP, Bish D, Buick R, Cody GD, Des Marais DJ, et al. (March 2011). "Preservation of martian organic and environmental records: final report of the Mars biosignature working group" (PDF). Astrobiology. 11 (2): 157–81. Bibcode:2011AsBio..11..157S. doi:10.1089/ast.2010.0506. hdl:1721.1/66519. PMID 21417945. S2CID 9963677. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-11-28. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
A biosignature (sometimes called chemical fossil or molecular fossil) is any substance – such as an element, isotope, molecule, or phenomenon – that provides...
proposed deep space fleet of space telescopes designed to search for biosignatures of life in the atmospheres of exoplanets. Daniel Apai, lead astronomer...
Groombridge 1618, and HD 156026 may be particularly good targets for future biosignature searches,' said Arney. Wikimedia Commons has media related to 61 Cygni...
environments in the Solar System and beyond, the search for planetary biosignatures of past or present extraterrestrial life, and the study of the origin...
Zhuchang; Hu, Renyu; Bains, William (11 October 2019). "Phosphine as a Biosignature Gas in Exoplanet Atmospheres". Astrobiology. 20 (2) (published February...
view of a gene as an aperiodic crystal, provides a so-called "agnostic biosignature", a sign of life that does not presuppose any biochemistry. In other...
in a fragmentation tandem mass spectrometry instrument to search for biosignatures. The theory was extended to map chemical space with molecular assembly...
horizontality Provenance Sedimentary record Sedimentology Stratigraphy Rock cycle calcium silica carbonate-silicate Paleolimnology Biosignature Category v t e...
possible 2450 Ma red alga from the Kola Peninsula, 1650 Ma carbonaceous biosignatures in north China, the 1600 Ma Rafatazmia, and a possible 1047 Ma Bangiomorpha...
the mission will be designed to search for signs of habitability and biosignatures in the atmospheres of Earth-sized rocky planets located in the habitable...
for extraterrestrial life oxygen is a strong biosignature. That said it might not be a definite biosignature, being possibly produced abiotically on celestial...
assessing the release of an additional 250 kg (550 lb) probe called Biosignature Explorer for Europa (BEE), that would have been equipped with a basic...
for past or present life on Mars. Furthermore, organic components (biosignatures) that are often associated with biominerals are believed to play crucial...
telescopic investigations and deployed probes, searching for water, chemical biosignatures in the soil and rocks at the planet's surface, and biomarker gases in...
Andreas; Kooijman, Ellen; Kielmann-Schmitt, Melanie (3 June 2021). "Biosignatures of ancient microbial life are present across the igneous crust of the...
of purple retinal pigments on Earth and implications for exoplanet biosignatures". International Journal of Astrobiology. 20 (3): 241–250. arXiv:1810...
fossils. Some fossils are biochemical and are called chemofossils or biosignatures. Though the fossil record is incomplete, numerous studies have demonstrated...
atmosphere, allowing astronomers to determine whether or not the methane is a biosignature. Webb orbits the Sun near the second Lagrange point (L2) of the Sun–Earth...
enhance human health and the environment. Biology, the study of life Biosignature Carbon-based life Central dogma of molecular biology History of life...
discrete vanadium accumulations on Mars could be a potential microbial biosignature when used in conjunction with Raman spectroscopy and morphology. All...
Ford, E.B. (2005). "Vegetation's Red Edge: A Possible Spectroscopic Biosignature of Extraterrestrial Plants". Astrobiology. 5 (3): 372–390. arXiv:astro-ph/0503302...
the puzzling question of thiophenic compounds as a possible ancient biosignature on Mars. Detailed analyses of carbon isotopes (δ13C) at trace level by...
Very Large Aperture, Ultralight Space Telescope Array for Atmospheric Biosignature Surveys". The Astronomical Journal. 158 (2): 83. arXiv:1906.05079. Bibcode:2019AJ...
planets, thus making detection of biosignatures easier. Hycean worlds could be soon investigated for biosignatures by terrestrial telescopes and space...
through Enceladus' plumes in order to sample and analyze its content for biosignatures. NASA provided scientific and technical expertise through various reviews...
that seemingly preserved fossilized microbial life, stromatolites, and biosignatures. Researchers propose pyrophosphite to have been used by early cellular...
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