Researchers from NASA have proposed a way to identify the conditions for life outside the Earth - by studying amino acids. Scientists have adapted a relatively simple method of chemical analysis to the new task. It will be possible to use it when automatic stations with appropriate equipment reach other planets - to apply the method, ice samples of extraterrestrial origin will be needed.
Lab in a shoebox
Find life on other planets, if there is water, amino acids can help. This potential building material for life can be found in environments where there are living organisms, and where they are not. Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have perfected a relatively simple method of chemical analysis to search for life both on planets and satellites in the solar system and - sometime in the future - on those exoplanets where oceans are believed to be.
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The method began to be used back in the 1980s, but for the first time it is being adapted to the search for life outside the globe. Its essence boils down to the fact that under the action of an electric field, complex mixtures disintegrate into individual components. With the help of special equipment, these components can be studied. The research team has perfected this technique called capillary electrophoresis. It will allow you to simultaneously analyze 17 amino acids in a liquid medium. “In addition, we can now study amino acids at very low concentrations,” added research team leader Jessica Creamer.
To test the effectiveness of their idea, scientists analyzed amino acids in the water of Lake Mono, California. This reservoir is known for its high salinity and alkalinity - it would seem that it is not the most favorable habitat. However, there are many unicellular algae in the upper water layer. Due to its harsh living conditions, the lake is perfect for testing a method that can be used to explore water from Mars or the moons of Saturn and Jupiter.
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Lake Mono
NASA
The real application of the method will be possible when the study of samples of alien water ice becomes available. Researchers are now working to create a portable chemical laboratory the size of a shoebox. This device will be able to take samples of frozen salt water, melt them, mix them with the liquid needed for testing, and analyze amino acids.
Molecular lefties
Actually, the asymmetry of these organic compounds will be studied. The fact is that amino acid molecules, not differing in the set of atoms, can exist in two forms - depending on the type of asymmetry. This can be explained by the example of human hands. The palm itself is not symmetrical. If you divide it with a vertical line in the middle, the parts on either side will be different. Moreover, if we compare the right and left palm, with the same structure, they will be like a mirror image of each other. Roughly the same can be observed in the "building blocks of life": chemical synthesis produces both right-handed and left-handed amino acids.
During the analysis of meteorites, it turned out that both types of the same amino acids are found there in approximately the same amount. A significant predominance of the left speaks of living organics on Earth. This feature is what the researchers intend to identify. It is expected that on a potentially habitable planet, amino acids will "choose" one of the options - the left one, as on Earth. But, adds Jessica Creamer, another scenario is possible:
“It will be very interesting if we suddenly find that there are significantly more right-handed amino acids on any planetary body. This will indicate that life outside the Earth could have a completely different origin than on our planet."
Atmosphere: the day before yesterday, today, the day after tomorrow
In the meantime, when assessing the potential "viability" of planets, scientists operate with other, indirect signs. In order to decide whether a planet can have life similar to the earth, the estimated general composition of the atmosphere, which should be similar to that of the earth, is determined. But if this is not observed, it still cannot be said that there are no conditions for life: after all, the composition of the atmosphere on Earth has changed noticeably.
It is worth noting that while we are talking mainly about the detection of life as such. By analyzing the location of the planet, its atmosphere and other indicators, scientists determine whether there can be conditions for life on it at all. In other words, could living organisms ever dwell there, is there life on it now and can it appear in the future.
Anastasia Klepneva