

Researchers supported in part by the NASA Astrobiology Program have experimentally tested a method that could aid in the search for life… including life as we don’t know it. Astrobiologists used molecular assembly theory to develop an index that can help sort complex molecules based on the probability of life being involved in their assembly. The method was tested in the laboratory using mass spectrometry on a wide variety of samples.
For more information, watch the video below, or visit the NASA Astrobiology YouTube channel.
The study, “Identifying molecules as biosignatures with assembly theory and mass spectrometry,” was published in the journal Nature Communications.