Devoted to exploring questions about the origin and evolution of life in our Universe, this highly interdisciplinary book brings together a broad array of scientists. Thirty chapters assembled in eight major sections convey the knowledge accumulated and the richness of the debates generated by this challenging theme. The text explores the latest research on the conditions and processes that led to the emergence of life on Earth and, by extension, perhaps on other planetary bodies. Diverse sources of knowledge are integrated, from astronomical and geophysical data, to the role of water, the origin of minimal life properties and the oldest traces of biological activity on our planet. This text will not only appeal to graduate students but to the large body of scientists interested in the challenges presented by the origin of life, its evolution, and its possible existence beyond Earth.
Author(s): Muriel Gargaud, Purificación López-Garcìa, Hervé Martin (eds)
Series: Cambridge Astrobiology 6
Edition: 1
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2011
Language: English
Pages: 547
Tags: Биологические дисциплины;Астробиология;
Cover......Page 1
Frontmatter......Page 2
Contents......Page 6
List of contributors......Page 9
Foreword......Page 14
Preface......Page 18
Part I - What is life?......Page 22
1 - Problems raised by a definition of life......Page 24
2 - Some remarks about uses of cosmological anthropic `principles'......Page 35
3 - Minimal cell: the biologist's point of view......Page 47
4 - Minimal cell: the computer scientist's point of view......Page 68
5 - Origins of life: computing and simulation approaches......Page 87
Part II - Astronomical and geophysical context of the emergence of life......Page 104
6 - Organic molecules in the interstellar medium......Page 106
7 - Cosmochemical evolution and the origin of life: insights from meteorites......Page 119
8 - Astronomical constraints on the emergence of life......Page 139
9 - Formation of habitable planets......Page 157
10 - The concept of the galactic habitable zone......Page 175
11 - The young Sun and its influence on planetary atmospheres......Page 188
12 - Climates of the Earth......Page 204
Part III - The role of water in the emergence of life......Page 224
13 - Liquid water: a necessary condition for all forms of life?......Page 226
14 - The role of water in the formation and evolution of planets......Page 239
15 - Water on Mars......Page 255
Part IV - From non-living systems to life......Page 266
16 - Energetic constraints on prebiotic pathways: application to the emergence of translation......Page 268
17 - Comparative genomics and early cell evolution......Page 280
18 - Origin and evolution of metabolisms......Page 291
Part V - Mechanisms for life evolution......Page 310
19 - Molecular phylogeny: inferring the patterns of evolution......Page 312
20 - Horizontal gene transfer: mechanisms and evolutionary consequences......Page 334
21 - The role of symbiosis in eukaryotic evolution......Page 347
Part VI - Life in extreme conditions......Page 366
22 - Life in extreme conditions: Deinococcus radiodurans, an organism able to survive prolonged desiccation and high doses of ionizing radiation......Page 368
23 - Molecular effects of UV and ionizing radiations on DNA......Page 380
24 - Molecular adaptations to life at high salt: lessons from Haloarcula marismortui......Page 396
Part VII - Traces of life and biosignatures......Page 410
25 - Early life: nature, distribution and evolution......Page 412
26 - Early eukaryotes in Precambrian oceans......Page 435
27 - Biomineralization mechanisms......Page 471
28 - Limits of life and the biosphere: lessons from the detection of microorganisms in the deep sea and deep subsurface of the Earth......Page 490
Part VIII - Life elsewhere?......Page 508
29 - Titan and the Cassini--Huygens mission......Page 510
30 - The role of terrestrial analogue environments in astrobiology......Page 528
Index......Page 544
