The AMINO experiment: RNA stability under solar radiation studied on the EXPOSE-R facility of the International Space Station

Careful examination of the present metabolism and in vitro selection of various catalytic RNAs strongly support the RNA world hypothesis as a crucial step of the origins and early life evolution. Small functional RNAs were exposed from 10 March 2009 to 21 January 2011 to space conditions on board th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of astrobiology 2015-01, Vol.14 (1), p.99-103
Main Authors: Vergne, Jacques, Cottin, Hervé, da Silva, Laura, Brack, André, Chaput, Didier, Maurel, Marie-Christine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astrobiology
Biodiversity and Ecology
Environmental Sciences
Life Sciences
Radiation
Ribonucleic acid
RNA
Solar energy
Solar radiation
Space stations
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Summary:Careful examination of the present metabolism and in vitro selection of various catalytic RNAs strongly support the RNA world hypothesis as a crucial step of the origins and early life evolution. Small functional RNAs were exposed from 10 March 2009 to 21 January 2011 to space conditions on board the International Space Station in the EXPOSE-R mission. The aim of this study was to investigate the preservation or modification properties such as integrity of RNAs after space exposition. The exposition to the solar radiation has a strong degradation effect on the size distribution of RNA. Moreover, the comparison between the in-flight samples, exposed to the Sun and not exposed, indicates that the solar radiation degrades RNA bases.
ISSN:1473-5504
1475-3006
1574-3006
DOI:10.1017/S147355041400024X