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Current Issues in Molecular Biology is published by MDPI from Volume 43 Issue 1 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher in Open Access under a CC-BY (or CC-BY-NC-ND) licence, and they are hosted by MDPI on mdpi.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Caister Press.
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Review

Following the Astrobiology Roadmap: Origins, Habitability and Future Exploration

by
Aubrie O'Rourke
1,*,†,
Angela Zoumplis
1,2,†,
Paul Wilburn
3,†,
Michael D. Lee
3,
Zhi Lee
4,
Marissa Vecina
4 and
Kysha Mercader
4
1
J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
2
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA, USA
3
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Blvd, Mountain View, CA 94035, USA
4
UCSD, School of Engineering, Senior Design Group, La Jolla, CA, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
equal contribution.
Curr. Issues Mol. Biol. 2020, 38(1), 1-32; https://doi.org/10.21775/cimb.038.001
Submission received: 9 October 2019 / Revised: 7 November 2019 / Accepted: 11 December 2019 / Published: 22 January 2020
Versions Notes

Abstract

Astrobiology asks three fundamental questions as outlined by the NASA Astrobiology Roadmap: 1. How did Life begin and evolve?; Is there Life elsewhere in the Universe?; and, What is the future of Life on Earth? As we gain perspective on how Life on Earth arose and adapted to its many niches, we too gain insight into how a planet achieves habitability. Here on Earth, microbial Life has evolved to exist in a wide range of habitats from aquatic systems to deserts, the human body, and the International Space Station (ISS). Landers, rovers, and orbiter missions support the search for signatures of Life beyond Earth, by generating data on surface and subsurface conditions of other worlds. These have provided evidence for water activity, supporting the potential for extinct or extant Life. To investigate the putative ecologies of these systems, we study extreme environments on Earth. Several locations on our planet provide analog settings to those we have detected or expect to find on neighboring and distant worlds. Whereas, the field of space biology uses the ISS and low gravity analogs to gain insight on how transplanted Earth-evolved organisms will respond to extraterrestrial environments. Modern genomics allows us to chronicle the genetic makeup of such organisms and provides an understanding of how Life adapts to various extreme environments.

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MDPI and ACS Style

O'Rourke, A.; Zoumplis, A.; Wilburn, P.; Lee, M.D.; Lee, Z.; Vecina, M.; Mercader, K. Following the Astrobiology Roadmap: Origins, Habitability and Future Exploration. Curr. Issues Mol. Biol. 2020, 38, 1-32. https://doi.org/10.21775/cimb.038.001

AMA Style

O'Rourke A, Zoumplis A, Wilburn P, Lee MD, Lee Z, Vecina M, Mercader K. Following the Astrobiology Roadmap: Origins, Habitability and Future Exploration. Current Issues in Molecular Biology. 2020; 38(1):1-32. https://doi.org/10.21775/cimb.038.001

Chicago/Turabian Style

O'Rourke, Aubrie, Angela Zoumplis, Paul Wilburn, Michael D. Lee, Zhi Lee, Marissa Vecina, and Kysha Mercader. 2020. "Following the Astrobiology Roadmap: Origins, Habitability and Future Exploration" Current Issues in Molecular Biology 38, no. 1: 1-32. https://doi.org/10.21775/cimb.038.001

APA Style

O'Rourke, A., Zoumplis, A., Wilburn, P., Lee, M. D., Lee, Z., Vecina, M., & Mercader, K. (2020). Following the Astrobiology Roadmap: Origins, Habitability and Future Exploration. Current Issues in Molecular Biology, 38(1), 1-32. https://doi.org/10.21775/cimb.038.001

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