Compartmentalization is crucial for the evolution of life. Present-day phospholipid
membranes exhibit a high level of complexity and species-dependent homochirality, the so …

DNA is an incontrovertible biosignature whose sequencing aids in species identification,
genome functionality, and evolutionary relationships. To study life within the rocks of Earth …

Existence of life outside the Earth is a mystery that human beings have been searching for
centuries. In the past few decades, discovering microbes in extremely terrestrial habitats has …

Due to its extreme conditions, microbial life in the Atacama Desert is known to survive in well-
protected micro-habitats (hypolithic, endolithic, etc.), but rarely directly exposed to the …

Abstract The quest for past Martian life hinges on locating surface formations linked to
ancient habitability. While Mars' surface is considered to have become cryogenic~ 3.7 Ga …

The search for extraterrestrial extant or extinct life in our Solar System will require highly
capable instrumentation and methods for detecting low concentrations of biosignatures. This …

The NASA Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is actively exploring Jezero crater to conduct
analyses on igneous and sedimentary rock targets from outcrops located on the crater floor …

The Bagno dell'Acqua lake is characterized by CO2 emissions, alkaline waters (pH= 9) and
Eh values which indicate strongly oxidizing conditions. A typical feature of the lake is the …

Tirez was a small and seasonal endorheic athalassohaline lagoon that was located in
central Spain. In recent years, the lagoon has totally dried out, offering for the first time the …

The abundance of potentially habitable hypersaline environments in our solar system
compels us to understand the impacts of high-salt matrices and brine dynamics on …