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GEORGE CHURCH AND LEFTIES. Mirror life thought experiment: "create a life form that runs on a different operating system from our own, based in mirror-image versions of earthly protein and DNA. Let these alien cells grow and mutate, and see how they survive." https://lnkd.in/epWqxGi View in LinkedIn

EXTRATERRESTIAL. "The finding of small but significant L-enantiomeric excesses (ee) in some amino acids of carbonaceous meteorites that are rare or unknown in the biosphere appears to indicate that interstellar and planetary chemical evolution (i.e., purely physicochemical abiotic processes) could yield chiral asymmetry." https://lnkd.in/eVkEQQj View in LinkedIn

MURCHISON. "At the same time, L-excesses of alanine were again found in Murchison but now with enrichment in the isotope 15N, however, the isotopic pairing was later contested on analytical grounds." https://lnkd.in/e6T2vir View in LinkedIn

ALARM SIGNALS IN PLANTS. "Tissue injury inflicted by plant-eating organisms does not go unnoticed; strong selection pressure imposed by biotic stress has fueled the evolution of innovative mechanisms by which plants perceive and respond to tissue damage. Plant hormones occupy a central role in regulating these highly dynamic adaptive responses." https://lnkd.in/eKj_2Vj View in LinkedIn

MURCHISON. "In 1997, L-excesses were also found in a non-protein amino acid, isovaline, suggesting an extraterrestrial source for molecular asymmetry in the Solar System." https://lnkd.in/e6T2vir View in LinkedIn

SHARED MOLECULAR STRATEGIES. "In both plants and animals, oxylipins derived from membrane lipids are sentinels of wound stress. The biochemical logic underlying oxylipin synthesis in plants and animals is remarkably similar." The structural diversity of oxylipins (including the jasmonates) affords functional specificity and high turnover affords an acute signal. https://lnkd.in/eKj_2Vj View in LinkedIn

MURCHISON METEORITE. L-alanine was also later found in living creatures leading to terrestrial contamination accusations. https://lnkd.in/e6T2vir View in LinkedIn

LANDMARK PAPER. "Leaf damage induces systemic accumulation of proteinase inhibitors that impair insect digestive enzymes. This landmark paper introduced the idea that mobile signals generated at the site of injury orchestrate systemic protection against insect herbivores...a cornerstone of current theories of plant immunity." (1972). https://lnkd.in/eKj_2Vj View in LinkedIn

MURCHISON METEORITE. "The initial report stated that the amino acids were racemic and therefore formed in an abiotic manner because amino acids of terrestrial proteins are all of the L-configuration." https://lnkd.in/e6T2vir View in LinkedIn

STATIONARY BUT FAR FROM PASSIVE. "As sessile organisms, plants have to adapt their physiological and morphological properties to the fluctuating environment. Plants perceive exogenous and endogenous stimuli, decode them, and alter their gene expression patterns via various plant hormonal signal transduction pathways." https://lnkd.in/ek3ckMU View in LinkedIn