Behavior Of Biomolecules Under High-pressure Torsion And Its Implications For Astrobiology

Understanding the fate of biomolecules under extreme conditions is central to astrobiology and the origin of life.

Astronomical impacts uniquely combine high pressure with intense plastic shear strain, while conventional shock compression studies neglect the role of plastic strain. This article reviews recent studies on the use of high pressure torsion (HPT) as a novel experimental platform for simulating such impacts.

Recent HPT studies of key prebiotic molecules, like amino acids (glycine, glutamic acid and serine) and nucleotides (adenosine monophosphate) are critically reviewed in this article. Spectroscopic analyses demonstrate molecule-dependent responses under HPT, ranging from structural stability to partial decomposition, highlighting plastic strain as a crucial factor in prebiotic chemistry.

By bridging materials science and astrobiology, HPT provides critical insights into mechanochemical pathways that could have driven the molecular evolution of proteins and ribonucleic acids (RNA) on the early Earth, and eventually led to the emergence of life.

Behavior of biomolecules under high-pressure torsion and its implications for astrobiology,
High Pressure Research

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High-pressure Torsion Processing Of Serine And Glutamic Acid: Understanding Mechanochemical Behavior Of Amino Acids Under Astronomical Impacts

Astrobiology, Astrochemistry,