Bernadette Mary Dineen - Seminar Presented October 25th 2024 - Department of Physics and Astronomy
Mars is a logical choice to explore the environmental effects on biomarkers due to a past history of similar habitability characteristics as Earth. However, past missions to Mars have informed us that there is widespread oxychlorine presence on the planet’s surface, and evidence shows that under photolytic processes, these compounds and their intermediates can alter or fragment organic compounds. In order to recognize biomarkers on Mars, we need to better understand the effects of billions of years of solar radiation, as well as oxychlorines and their intermediates, on biologically produced molecules. My research in this avenue focuses on analysis of the effects of UV irradiation on porphyrin and tryptophan in the presence of various oxychlorines and silica under Mars ambient conditions in order to contribute to the search for life beyond Earth. |
The search for life beyond Earth is a vast and intricate process; this area of research could provide a cosmic context for humankind that we do not currently possess, and thus demands equally extraordinary evidence. Scientists have designated a variety of biological compounds (biomarkers) that are ubiquitous across life on Earth as target molecules in the search for extraterrestrial life. However, biomarkers are likely not intact as we are used to seeing them due to the harsh environmental conditions of other planets. Thus, searching for life in extraterrestrial environments not only requires us to develop reliable methods to detect these compounds, but it also demands that we expand our target from known biomarker structures to include what these compounds look like after they have withstood the rigors of an extraterrestrial environment.