NAI
2008 Annual Science Report
Carnegie Institution of Washington
Reporting | JUL 2007 – JUN 2008
Executive Summary
The NAI team led by the Carnegie Institution of Washington is studying the evolution of organic compounds from prebiotic molecular synthesis and organization to cellular evolution and diversification. Our program attempts to integrate the sweeping narrative of life’s history through a combination of bottom-up and top-down studies. On the one hand, we study processes related to chemical and physical evolution in possible prebiotic environments – the interstellar medium, circumstellar disks, extrasolar planetary systems, the primitive Earth, and other Solar System objects. Complementary to these bottom-up investigations of life’s origin, we carry out field and experimental top-down efforts to document the nature of microbial life at extreme conditions and the characterization of organic matter in ancient fossils. Both types of efforts inform our development of biotechnological approaches to life detection on other worlds.
Our team’s research activities focuses on life’s chemical and physical evolution, from the ... Continue reading.
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Sean Solomon
NAI, ASTEP, ASTID, Exobiology -
TEAM Active Dates:
11/2003 - 10/2008 CAN 3 -
Members:
97 (See All) - Visit Team Page
Project Reports
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4. Prebiotic Molecular Selection and Organization
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 3.2 3.4 4.1 7.1 -
7. Astrobiotechnology
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 5.3 6.2 7.1 -
6. Molecular and Isotopic Biosignatures
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 2.1 3.1 4.1 4.2 5.3 6.1 7.1 7.2 -
5. Life in Extreme Environments
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 5.1 5.3 6.2 7.1 -
1. From Molecular Clouds to Habitable Planetary Systems
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 1.2 2.1 2.2 3.1 -
2. Extraterrestrial Materials: Origin and Evolution of Organic Matter and Water in the Solar System
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1 2.1 3.1 -
3. Prebiotic Chemical and Isotopic Evolution on Earth
ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 3.1 4.1 4.2 7.1
Publications
- There are no publications for this team in the 2008 annual report.
2008 Teams
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Carnegie Institution of Washington
Indiana University, Bloomington
Marine Biological Laboratory
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Montana State University
NASA Ames Research Center
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Pennsylvania State University
SETI Institute
University of Arizona
University of California, Berkeley
University of Colorado, Boulder
University of Hawaii, Manoa
University of Wisconsin
VPL at University of Washington