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An Alternative Approach for Assessing Biogenicity.

Joti Rouillard1, Mark van Zuilen2, Céline Pisapia2

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A new quantitative method offers an unambiguous test for biogenicity, distinguishing life from non-life in microfossils. This approach analyzes morphology and chemistry to identify potential signs of ancient or extraterrestrial microbial life.

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AstrobiologyBiogenicityBiosignaturesCellular lifeEarly life

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Area of Science:

  • Astrobiology
  • Geology
  • Microbiology

Background:

  • Identifying ancient microbial life relies on biogenicity tests, but simple microfossil morphologies often resemble abiotic structures.
  • Existing qualitative criteria for biogenicity are debated, hindering definitive conclusions about ancient microfossils.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose a novel, quantitative approach for assessing the biogenicity of potential microfossils.
  • To develop a universal and unambiguous test for life in the rock record and beyond.

Main Methods:

  • Formulating biological and abiogenic hypotheses for observed microstructures.
  • Quantitatively characterizing microfossil populations using morphologic (e.g., circularity, aspect ratio) and chemical (e.g., N/C ratio, isotopic enrichment, chirality) parameters.
  • Developing statistical decision spaces to discriminate between different systems and locate potential microfossil populations.

Main Results:

  • The proposed quantitative approach provides a theoretical framework for biogenicity assessment.
  • This method empirically searches for statistical trends to differentiate biological from abiogenic microstructures.
  • Decision spaces are created for quantitative discrimination of systems.

Conclusions:

  • This quantitative approach offers a solution to the limitations of classical qualitative biogenicity criteria.
  • It has the potential to robustly detect cellular life on other planets, overcoming challenges in predicting extraterrestrial life's characteristics.