Astrogeobiology 1400-124AGB-OG

Course comprises:
1. A brief history of astrobiology
2. What is life? Understanding some of the key characteristics of life is essential for astrobiology.
- historical perspective
- spontaneous generation
- modern concepts
3. Matter and life (the concept of atoms, ions, and molecules and their basic structure)
- dark matter, dark energy, baryonic matter
- electrons, atoms, ions
- molecules (introduction to proteins, amino acids, enzymes)
- covalent bonds and life (thermostability)
- van der Waals interactions and life
- interaction between matter and light
4. Molecular structure of life (the basic elements required by life are carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulphur)
- proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, lipids
- water as a solvent of life
- alternative solvents
5. Cellular structure of life (different cells found in life on Earth)
- types and structures of cells
- transcription: DNA to RNA
- translation: RNA to protein
- DNA replication
- plasmids
- eukaryotic cells
- reproduction of cells
- movement and communication in prokaryotes
6. Viruses: their role in natural environment and origin of life on Earth
7. Fungi: how they make our worlds
8. Energy for life (different types of energy acquisition in organisms: chemo- versus phototrophic forms of energy acquisition; chemiosmosis, electron transport; ATP)
- evolution of photosynthesis
- global biogeochemical cycles
- microbial mats
- thermodynamics of energy acquisition of life
9. Life in extreme environments and the limits of life
10. The tree of life (phylogenetic trees, RNA, LUCA)
11. The Universe, the Solar System and the elements of life (how stars and planets form)
12. Carbon molecules in space (organic molecules)
13. The first billion years of Earth (hypotheses about the formation of Earth, its early oceans and atmosphere; environmental conditions in which life might have emerged)
14. The origin of life (panspermia, the RNA world, early cells, hydrothermal vents, impact craters, volcanic environments, deep subsurface)
- methods used to investigate life
- stromatolites
- biomarkers and contamination
15. The rise of oxygen (major source and sinks of oxygen on Earth, Snowball Earth)
16. Mass extinctions (five major mass extinctions in the Phanerozoic, purported causes of mass extinctions)
17. Habitability of planetary bodies (habitable/Goldilocks zone and its limitations)
18. The astrobiology of Mars (missions, evidence for water, limits to life)
19. Ocean worlds and icy moons (astrobiology of moons; the evidence for water bodies under the surfaces of Europa, Ganymede and Enceladus; carbon cycle on Titan; habitability in the interior of moons)
20. Exoplanets and the search for life (methods used to detect exoplanets, diversity of exoplanets)
21. Hayabusa missions to Ryugu and Bennu (carbonaceous asteroids thought to be the rocky building blocks of the early solar system)