Handbook of Astrobiology / Edition 1

by Vera M. Kolb

Overview

Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life on Earth. This exciting and significant field of research also investigates the potential existence and search for extra-terrestrial life in the Solar System and beyond. This is the first handbook in this field.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138065123
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	01/08/2019
Series:	Series in Astrobiology
Pages:	866
Product dimensions:	8.25(w) x 11.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Vera M. Kolb earned a BS in Chemical Engineering and an MS in organic chemistry from Belgrade University, followed by a PhD in organic chemistry at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. She was a Chemistry Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside from 1985-2016, and is now a Professor Emeritus. During her first sabbatical leave (1992-1994) she received training in astrobiology (then termed exobiology) at the NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training (NSCORT) in San Diego, where she has worked with Leslie Orgel at the Salk Institute, and Stanley Miller, at the University of California San Diego.

She has worked in the field of astrobiology ever since. In 1992 she received the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Activity. During her second sabbatical (2002-2003) she studied sugar organo-silicates and their astrobiological importance with Joseph Lambert, at Northwestern University. She was inducted in the Southeastern Wisconsin Educators’ Hall of Fame in 2002. She is a recipient of numerous research and higher education grants and awards from the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium/NASA, among others. At this time, she has published over 150 articles, including patents and books, in organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and astrobiology.

She has edited a book "Astrobiology, An Evolutionary Approach", for CRC Press, which was published in 2014. Her second book, "Green Organic Chemistry and its Interdisciplinary Applications", was published in 2016, also by CRC Press. Since both astrobiology and green chemistry study organic reactions in water, as in the primordial soup for astrobiology and as a benign solvent in green chemistry, the relationship between these two fields speaks of their true interdisciplinary characters.

Table of Contents

Part 1. Astrobiology: Definition, scope, and education

1.1 Astrobiology: Definition and scope 1.2 Astrobiology goals: NASA Strategy and European roadmap1.3. Online, classroom and wilderness teaching environments: Reaching astrobiology learners of all ages around the world 1.4 Astrobiology as a medium for science education 1.5 Astrobiology as Origins Story: Education and inspiration across cultures

Part 2. Definition and nature of life

2.1 Definition of life: Multiple perspectives 2.2 A generalized and universalized definition of life applicable to extraterrestrial environments 2.3 Synthetic life and minimal cell 2.4 Communication as the main characteristic of life

Part 3. Origin of life: History, philosophical aspects, and major developments

3.1 Philosophical aspects of the origin-of-life question: Neither by chance nor by design 3.2 Charles Darwin and the Plurality of Worlds: Are we Alone? 3.3 Origins of life: Early history, from Buffon to Oparin 3.4 Think life by studying its origins. A look on the second part of the 20^th century

Part 4. Chemical origins of life: Chemicals in the universe and their delivery on the early Earth. Geology and atmosphere on the early Earth.

4.1 Interstellar molecules and their prebiotic potential 4.2 Formation and delivery of complex organic molecules to the Solar System and early Earth 4.3 Organic molecules in meteorites and their astrobiological significance 4.4 Ancient life and crust and mantle evolution 4.5 Atmosphere on early Earth and its evolution as it impacted life

Part 5. Chemical origin of life: Prebiotic chemistry.

5.1 Prebiotic chemistry that led to life 5.2 Prebiotic chemical pathways to RNA and the importance of its compartmentation 5.3 The hydrothermal impact crater-lakes: The crucibles of life’s origin 5.4 Prebiotic chemistry in hydrothermal vent systems 5.5 Prebiotic reactions in water, on water, in supercritical water, solventless, and in the solid state 5.6 The origin and amplification of chirality leading to biological homochirality 5.7 Phosphorus in prebiotic chemistry – An update and a note on plausibility 5.8 Phosphorylation on the Early Earth 5.9 Silicon and life

Part 6. RNA and RNA world. Complexity of life’s origins.

6.1 Transitions: RNA and ribozymes in the development of life 6.2 Three ways to make an RNA sequence: Steps from chemistry to the RNA world 6.3 Coevolution of RNA and peptides 6.4 Role of ions in RNA folding and function 6.5 The origin of life as an evolutionary process: Representative case studies 6.6 The complexity of life’s origins: a physicochemical view

Part 7. Origin of life: Early compartmentalization. Coacervates and protocells

7.1 Oparin’s coacervates 7.2 Protocell evolution

Part 8. Origin of life and its diversification. Universal tree of life. Early primitive life on Earth. Fossils of ancient microorganisms. Biomarkers and detection of life.

8.1 The progenote, LUCA, and the root of the cellular tree of life 8.2 Horizontal gene transfer in microbial evolution 8.3 Viruses in the origin of life and its subsequent diversification 8.4 Carl R. Woese and the journey toward a universal tree of life 8.5 Fossils of ancient microorganisms 8.6 Biomarkers and their Raman spectral signatures: An analytical challenge in astrobiology 8.7 Fossilization of bacteria and the implications for the search for early life forms. Biosignatures in astrobiology missions to Mars

Part 9. Life under extreme conditions. Microbes in space.

9.1 Extremophiles and their natural niches on Earth 9.2 Microbes in space 9.3 Virus evolution and ecology. Role of viruses in adaptation of life to extreme environments

Part 10. Habitability: Characteristics of habitable planets.

10.1 The evolution of habitability: Characteristics of habitable planets

Part 11. Intelligent life in space: History, philosophy, and SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence).

11.1 Mind in universe: On the origin, evolution, and distribution of intelligent life in space 11.2 Where are they? Implications of the Drake equation and the Fermi paradox 11.3 SETI, its goals and accomplishments 11.4 Humanistic implications of discovering life beyond Earth

Part 12. Exoplanets. Exploration of Solar System. Search for extraterrestrial life in our Solar System. Planetary protection.

12.1 Exoplanets: Methods for their detection and their habitability potential 12.2 Solar System exploration: Small bodies and their chemical and physical conditions 12.3 Solar System exploration: Icy Moons and their habitability 12.4 Searching for extraterrestrial life in our Solar System 12.5 Planetary protection

Editorial Reviews

"Astrobiology fuses research from many different fields to address questions about life in the universe. Thus, practitioners need to be familiar with research in a diverse set of fields of study. Kolb (Univ. of Wisconsin, Parkside) has gathered experts to review various facets of the field. Handbook of Astrobiology, contains extensive reviews grouped into 12 sections and 54 chapters.
In addition to many reviews of studies of the definition of life, the origin of life, and the nature of and evolution of planets, this work includes discussions of education and public outreach and a roadmap for future work in the field from NASA and the European Space Agency. It is an unusually comprehensive volume, which achieves its goal of providing an overview of modern astrobiology. Many of the chapters do an excellent job of reviewing one subfield of astrobiology.
Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty and professionals."
—C. Palma, Pennsylvania State University, in CHOICE, August 2019

"The Handbook of Astrobiology is a comprehensive collection of articles and reviews penned by some of the leading experts in the field. This book provides an in-depth survey of the current status of Astrobiology, through the various fields it encompasses. Spanning various topics related to life, its origins on earth and beyond, and the search for life elsewhere, the handbook’s layout is very logical and is strengthened by the systematic approach to each topic. The chapter on education and outreach activities relating to Astrobiology is well integrated into the flow and narrative of the handbook. It is an enjoyable read and will be a very good and handy reference for Astrobiology novices and enthusiasts alike."
—Professor Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USA

"I have been involved in NASA’s efforts in exobiology and astrobiology in one way or the other since 1986, when I was handed NASA’s portfolio and asked to invest wisely and grow it, accordingly. The field was already broadly inter- and multi-disciplinary and a bit daunting as a result, but my work would have been made much easier if there had been an introduction and reference as carefully assembled as Vera Kolb’s Handbook of Astrobiology. It is clearly a work of great scholarship and Vera’s strong affection for the field and her evident command of its breadth have resulted in a highly valuable reference that will serve as a point of departure for much good work and scientific reflection in the future.
I particularly like Professor Kolb’s selection of a broad spectrum of experts who represent both long-time astrobiology practitioners and more recent contributors who bring with them fresh perspectives and a remarkable energy that drives the field forward with new discoveries.
In astrobiology’s future, I would hope that Professor Kolb’s and her contributing authors will have a regular opportunity to meet, compare results, and plot out scientific strategies to continue the field’s successes. Whether, and how often, those meetings take place in the future is not known, but those authors are all meeting, now, in the pages of Vera’s excellent handbook."
— John D. Rummel, PhD, Senior Scientist, SETI Institute and formerly Senior Scientist for Astrobiology, NASA Headquarters (2006-2008) and Exobiology Program Manager and Discipline Scientist, NASA Headquarters (1986-1993)

"A handbook on astrobiology has been sorely needed for a while now, and who is better to take on such a daunting task than Vera Kolb who received direct training from three other giants in the field, Leslie Orgel, Stanley Miller, and Joseph Lambert…It is here that multiple award winning Kolb has made her indelible mark on the field, which makes her an all-in-one embodiment of these important astrobiological schools…The number of expert scholars that Kolb has been able to recruit results in a staggering 800-page long summery of what hardworking chemically and mathematically gifted scientists like her know on how life evolved on and possibly outside of earth. The anthology contains 54 contributions that are divided into twelve sections that contain the different chapters…Each one of the contributing scientists demonstrates the mind-blowing advances that have been made in the different subbranches of astrobiology and how the multidisciplinary field has developed into the mature science that it is today…It additionally contains important science philosophical, historical, educational, and even ethical sections on how to define the field of astrobiology and how to educate future astrobiologists.. I can most certainly and very warmly recommend the reading of this volume and I would recommend libraries worldwide to stack up on their copies."

—Nathalie Gontier in Science & Education Journal (Springer, March 2021) https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-021-00223-0

"Astrobiology fuses research from many different fields to address questions about life in the universe. Thus, practitioners need to be familiar with research in a diverse set of fields of study. Kolb (Univ. of Wisconsin, Parkside) has gathered experts to review various facets of the field. Handbook of Astrobiology, contains extensive reviews grouped into 12 sections and 54 chapters.
In addition to many reviews of studies of the definition of life, the origin of life, and the nature of and evolution of planets, this work includes discussions of education and public outreach and a roadmap for future work in the field from NASA and the European Space Agency. It is an unusually comprehensive volume, which achieves its goal of providing an overview of modern astrobiology. Many of the chapters do an excellent job of reviewing one subfield of astrobiology.
Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty and professionals."
—C. Palma, Pennsylvania State University, in CHOICE, August 2019

"The Handbook of Astrobiology is a comprehensive collection of articles and reviews penned by some of the leading experts in the field. This book provides an in-depth survey of the current status of Astrobiology, through the various fields it encompasses. Spanning various topics related to life, its origins on earth and beyond, and the search for life elsewhere, the handbook’s layout is very logical and is strengthened by the systematic approach to each topic. The chapter on education and outreach activities relating to Astrobiology is well integrated into the flow and narrative of the handbook. It is an enjoyable read and will be a very good and handy reference for Astrobiology novices and enthusiasts alike."
—Professor Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USA

"I have been involved in NASA’s efforts in exobiology and astrobiology in one way or the other since 1986, when I was handed NASA’s portfolio and asked to invest wisely and grow it, accordingly. The field was already broadly inter- and multi-disciplinary and a bit daunting as a result, but my work would have been made much easier if there had been an introduction and reference as carefully assembled as Vera Kolb’s Handbook of Astrobiology. It is clearly a work of great scholarship and Vera’s strong affection for the field and her evident command of its breadth have resulted in a highly valuable reference that will serve as a point of departure for much good work and scientific reflection in the future.
I particularly like Professor Kolb’s selection of a broad spectrum of experts who represent both long-time astrobiology practitioners and more recent contributors who bring with them fresh perspectives and a remarkable energy that drives the field forward with new discoveries.
In astrobiology’s future, I would hope that Professor Kolb’s and her contributing authors will have a regular opportunity to meet, compare results, and plot out scientific strategies to continue the field’s successes. Whether, and how often, those meetings take place in the future is not known, but those authors are all meeting, now, in the pages of Vera’s excellent handbook."
— John D. Rummel, PhD, Senior Scientist, SETI Institute and formerly Senior Scientist for Astrobiology, NASA Headquarters (2006-2008) and Exobiology Program Manager and Discipline Scientist, NASA Headquarters (1986-1993)

"A handbook on astrobiology has been sorely needed for a while now, and who is better to take on such a daunting task than Vera Kolb who received direct training from three other giants in the field, Leslie Orgel, Stanley Miller, and Joseph Lambert…It is here that multiple award winning Kolb has made her indelible mark on the field, which makes her an all-in-one embodiment of these important astrobiological schools…The number of expert scholars that Kolb has been able to recruit results in a staggering 800-page long summery of what hardworking chemically and mathematically gifted scientists like her know on how life evolved on and possibly outside of earth. The anthology contains 54 contributions that are divided into twelve sections that contain the different chapters…Each one of the contributing scientists demonstrates the mind-blowing advances that have been made in the different subbranches of astrobiology and how the multidisciplinary field has developed into the mature science that it is today…It additionally contains important science philosophical, historical, educational, and even ethical sections on how to define the field of astrobiology and how to educate future astrobiologists.. I can most certainly and very warmly recommend the reading of this volume and I would recommend libraries worldwide to stack up on their copies."

—Nathalie Gontier in Science & Education Journal (Springer, March 2021) https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-021-00223-0

From the Publisher