How NASA is using synthetic DNA in its search for alien life

will grace the skies of Saturn's moon Titan. Mission planners dream of equipping these mechanical scouts with instruments capable of scouring the unknown environments for signs of life, but the technology required to do so is deceptively complex.

But as researchers debate which molecules to look for, recent work suggests casting a broader net. In 2019, for instance, a team of synthetic biologists showed that the four-molecule genetic code that describes all known life on Earth isn't the only group of molecules that could support evolution., founder of the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution at the University of Florida and leader of the group. "That drags scientists kicking and screaming across uncharted terrain.

And hachimoji molecules represent just minor riffs on standard DNA, with a few oxygen and nitrogen atoms shuffled around here and there. Biologists would really struggle to get a handle on a truly alien system. Letting his imagination run wild, Benner speculates about exotic DNA molecules forming a flat sheet, as opposed to a linear strand. Good luck trying to fit that square peg into a round detector.

This test should detect any life in the area, microbial or otherwise, as long as it has some sort of biological genetic code akin to DNA. "If you ran seawater through it, you could find DNA from shrimp," says , as the agency prepares for more ambitious missions to Mars and distant moons. And both Bywaters and Bramall feel optimistic about their devices, expecting that they'll be ready to fly before the end of the decade.

When does alien life begin?

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