ASTROBIOLOGY BIOGEOCATALYSIS RESEARCH CENTER
Welcome to the Astrobiology Biogeocatalysis Research Center at Montana State
University!
Our team provides a unique niche within the NASA
Astrobiology Institute (NAI)
a
multidisciplinary umbrella for conducting research on the origin and evolution
of life on Earth and elsewhere in the universe. We focus on the abiotic chemical
interconversions that result in the formation of the raw materials, or reactants,
necessary for various condensation reactions that result in the formation of
the basic building blocks for life. These efforts will help create the fundamental
groundwork for Goal 3 (Origins of Life) of the NASA
Astrobiology Roadmap.
Knowledge about how the precursors for life arose and were assembled is essential
for understanding the evolution of life on earth, and possibly life elsewhere
in the universe. Such knowledge would prove invaluable for developing chemical
signatures to help us detect life beyond earth. Our research investigates and
compares the physical and catalytic properties of iron-sulfide compounds, which
are common in both biological and geological systems. The adaptation of iron-sulfide
clusters from the abiotic, or non-living, world to the biological world may
have been an early event in the development of life on Earth, and possibly
a common feature of life elsewhere in the universe.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions, and enjoy exploring our site!
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