Biophysicist Harold J. Morowitz passed away on March 22, 2016, at the age of 88. Morowitz was a long-standing figure in the astrobiology community, and made many important contributions to exobiology and astrobiology. In 1961, he received a NASA Exobiology grant to study Mycoplasma as a minimal cell. He remained an active researcher with NASA’s Exobiology program, and subsequently the Astrobiology Program. Through his career, Morowitz collaborated with numerous researchers in the astrobiology community, and was an author many seminal scientific texts, including Energy Flow in Biology.

In addition to his work on Mycoplasma and the origin of life, Morowitz performed important research on halobacteria and bacterial photosynthesis. He was also a founding member of the Committee for Theoretical Biology in 1962.

Harold J. Morowitz has been a powerful figure in astrobiology, from the very beginnings of NASA’s studies on life’s potential in the Universe through to the present day. His research has helped shaped the course of astrobiology research at NASA, and recently he served as a reviewer on the 2015 Astrobiology Strategy.

In memoriam: Harold J. Morowitz, expert on the origin of life (Yale University)
Harold Morowitz, 88, Biophysicist, Dies; Tackled Enigmas Big and Small (New York Times)