Exploring the Prebiotic Chemistry of Europa
Authors: Corrigan Allie , Cavazzin Bianca , Van Mifsud Duncan , Hailey Perry , Mason Nigel 
Published: September 2022

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&lt;div class=&quot;textLayer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;1&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;Abstract&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;textLayer&quot;&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;Europa is one of the celestial bodies within our solar system that has the highest potential of harbouring life. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;In this poster, we will discuss a method which will be used to help determine the survivability of life on Europa &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;and whether or not Europa has the appropriate chemistry necessary for life.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;Through subjecting regolith in &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;aqueous solution to UV/Visible radiation, and adopting a &amp;#8217;systems chemistry&amp;#8217; approach, the yield of organic &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;matter, more specifically amino acids, produced will be investigated to determine the prime conditions and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;chemicals required for life on Europa.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;textLayer&quot;&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;2&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;Introduction&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;textLayer&quot;&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;As the ability to explore complexity and study planets and celestial bodies within our own solar system becomes &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;more feasible, it is increasingly practical to address the age old question of whether life can, or cannot, exist &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;outside of the Earth.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;With the forthcoming European Space Agency (ESA) JUpiter ICy moons Explorer &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;(JUICE) mission, the focus on the viability of life has been shifted onto the icy moons of Jupiter. The moons of &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;Jupiter (particularly Europa and Ganymede) have high potential for life and have become of particular interest &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;for research in the fields of Astrochemistry and Astrobiology.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;Specifically for the moon Europa, the interest &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;lies in whether the moon has the necessary chemistry for life to emerge, [3]. By performing a systematic study &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;of how Europan regoliths/salts react with plausible molecules after being irradiated and subject to similar &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;Europan conditions, the likelihood of life emerging on Europa can be quantified. With the potential discovery &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;of organics on the surface and near sub surface it is increasingly urgent to determine the composition and routes &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;to synthesis of these organics.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;textLayer&quot;&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;3&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;Method&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;textLayer&quot;&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;Samples of formulated Europan soil or salt analogues will be added to an aqueous solution of water and a molecule &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;that has been observed in the interstellar medium (ISM), [1]. With varying ratios of aqueous solution, mineral, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;and ISM relevant molecule, the samples are irradiated with UV/Visible light using a range of wavelengths &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;(365nm, 425nm, 475-480nm, 650nm, and 6200K lamps) for periods of time ranging from 72 hours to 120 &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;hours.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;A statistical experimental design approach will be employed.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;The resulting residue using both high-&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;(GCMS). A &amp;#8217;targeted&amp;#8217; methodology will be employed for the analyses specifically to determine if the analyte &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;contains amino acids, or any trace of amino acids, [2].&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;textLayer&quot;&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;4&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;Results&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;textLayer&quot;&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;An initial screening run of this experiment using Martian, Earth, and Moon regolith revealed that the resulting &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;residue from photolysis (using the 325nm, 650nm, and 6200K lamps) of the Martian and Earth regolith showed &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;trace amounts of simple amino acids. However, due to a lack of sample work-up procedures, including deriviti&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;zation, the results were ultimately inconclusive. Method development and validation of the sample preparation &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;and analysis will be presented, and is under development to be active in autumn 2022. From the initial screening &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;experiments, it is hypothesized however, that by irradiating the Europan salt/soil analogues within an aqueous &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;solution, trace amounts of simple amino acids are postulated to form in the resulting residue.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;This is as a &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;consequence of using the same ISM relevant molecule and chemical similarities between the Martian regolith &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;and what is postulated to be in Europa&amp;#8217;s soil/oceans. The implications for Europa to previously, currently, or &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;subsequently, harbour life will be discussed. Further details and results will be presented at the meeting.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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&lt;div class=&quot;textLayer&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;References&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;[1] Pascale Ehrenfreund and Karl M. Menten.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;From Molecular Clouds to the Origin of Life&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;, pages 7&amp;#8211;23. Springer&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2002.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;[2] Norio Kitadai and Shigenori Maruyama. Origins of building blocks of life: A review.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;Geoscience Frontiers&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;9(4):1117&amp;#8211;1153, 2018.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;[3] Jere H. Lipps and Sarah Rieboldt. Habitats and taphonomy of europa.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;Icarus&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;, 177(2):515&amp;#8211;527, 2005. Europa&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br role=&quot;presentation&quot; /&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot; role=&quot;presentation&quot;&gt;Icy Shell.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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