Signs of Life: A Report Based on the April 2000 Workshop on Life Detection Techniques (2002)

NOTE: The papers in this appendix are published essentially as received from their authors. They therefore should be regarded as a record of the workshop proceedings and not as a refereed work. Where possible, typographical errors, egregious errors of fact, and non-pertinent remarks have been redacted by the Committee on the Origins and Evolution of Life.

Listed below by session, the papers are reproduced on the CD-ROM of the full report but are not included in the printed report owing to space limitations.

History of Life Detection Approaches, 55

Gerald A. Soffen, Goddard Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The Nature of Biochemistry in the Universe, 59

Norman R. Pace, Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado

Chance and Necessity in Biomolecular Chemistry: Is Life as We Know It Universal?, 64

Steven A. Benner, Departments of Chemistry and Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Florida

Self-Assembly Processes: Steps Toward Life's Origins, 68

David W. Deamer, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz

Detecting Life on Extrasolar Planets, 74

James F. Kasting, Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University

Sample Return from Primitive Bodies, 81

Donald Brownlee, Department of Astronomy, University of Washington

Mars Sample Return: Life Detection at All Levels, 83

Kenneth H. Nealson, Center for Life Detection, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Searching for Life on Europa from a Spacecraft Lander, 86

Christopher F. Chyba, SETI Institute and Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University

Sample Return from Titan for Exobiology, 91

Christopher McKay, Ames Research Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Planetary Quarantine, 93

John D. Rummel, Office of Space Science, National Aeronautics and Space Administration

X-ray Microscopy and the Detection of Life, 105

Chris Jacobsen, Department of Physics and Astronomy, State University of New York, Stony Brook

Characterizing the Intact Microbe-Mineral Interface, 108

William W. Barker and Jillian F. Banfield, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Single-Polymer Model Detection Using Nanopores, 112

Amit Meller, Rowland Institute at Harvard, and

Daniel Branton, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University

Extant Life Detection Using Stable Isotopes and Protein-chip Technology , 117

Marilyn L. Fogel, Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Iron Biominerals as Biomarkers, 123

Joseph L. Kirschvink, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometers: Miniaturized Instruments with a Biological Mass Range, 129

Robert J. Cotter, Middle Atlantic Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Life Detection Using Molecular Methods, 132

David A. Stahl, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington

A Robotic-PCR Detector for DNA-based Life on Other Planets, 137

Gary Ruvkun, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital; Michael Finney, MJ Research; Walter Gilbert, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University; and George M. Church, Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School

Formation and Preservation of Bona Fide Microfossils, 149

Sherry L. Cady, Department of Geology, Portland State University

Electron-Beam Techniques for Microfossil Characterization, 156

David McKay, NASA Johnson Space Center

Organic Detection, 164

Luann Becker, Department of Geological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara

Biomarkers and Biosignatures of Fossil Organic Compounds, 174

J. Michael Moldowan, Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University

Organic Chemistry of Meteorites: Criteria for Abiotic Origins, 180

Sherwood Chang, SETI Institute

Isotopes of Iron: Biomarker Prospects, 187

Ariel D. Anbar, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester

Development of In Situ Measurement Techniques for Detecting the Chemical Signatures of Life, 194

Wesley T. Huntress, Jr., Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Miniaturized In Situ Instruments for Amino Acid Detection on Solar System Bodies, 197

Jeffrey L. Bada, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego