Astrobiologists supported by the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) have demonstrated a new way to study the origin of life: fuel cells.

On Earth, hydrothermal vents on the seafloor act as “geochemical fuel cells.” Living cells also generate energy through processes that are similar to fuel cells. To this end, the team used a lab-grown hydrothermal chimney to simulate origin of life reactions in a ‘fuel cell’ experiment. This ‘Prebiotic Fuel Cell’ could help bridge the gap between geo-electrochemical systems and the first biological metabolisms.

Fuel cells are modular, and components can be easily swapped out. By changing minerals and conditions in the prebiotic fuel cell, scientists can use the same technique to study the potential for life’s origin on Mars, Europa and other worlds where rock and water come into contact.

The paper, “The Fuel Cell Model of Abiogenesis:A New Approach to Origin-of-Life Simulations,” published this month in the journal Astrobiology, Volume 14, Number 3.