| List of contributors | p. xi |
| Preface | p. xv |
| Planetary systems and the origins of life | p. 1 |
| Observations of extrasolar planetary systems | p. 3 |
| Introduction | p. 3 |
| RV detections | p. 4 |
| Transit detections | p. 7 |
| Properties of the extrasolar planets | p. 10 |
| Other methods of detection | p. 14 |
| Future prospects for space missions | p. 16 |
| Acknowledgements | p. 17 |
| References | p. 17 |
| The atmospheres of extrasolar planets | p. 21 |
| Introduction | p. 21 |
| The primary eclipse | p. 21 |
| The secondary eclipse | p. 23 |
| Characteristics of known transiting planets | p. 25 |
| Spectroscopy | p. 27 |
| Model atmospheres | p. 30 |
| Observations | p. 32 |
| Future missions | p. 35 |
| Summary | p. 37 |
| References | p. 38 |
| Terrestrial planet formation | p. 41 |
| Introduction | p. 41 |
| The formation of planetesimals | p. 42 |
| The growth of protoplanets | p. 43 |
| The growth of planets | p. 47 |
| The origin of the Earth-Moon system | p. 52 |
| Terrestrial planets and life | p. 52 |
| Summary | p. 56 |
| Acknowledgements | p. 57 |
| References | p. 57 |
| From protoplanetary disks to prebiotic amino acids and the origin of the genetic code | p. 62 |
| Introduction | p. 62 |
| Protoplanetary disks and the formation of planet systems | p. 63 |
| Protoplanetary disks and the formation of biomolecules | p. 68 |
| Measurements and experiments on amino acid synthesis | p. 71 |
| A role for thermodynamics | p. 73 |
| The RNA world and the origin of the genetic code | p. 76 |
| How was the genetic code optimized? | p. 80 |
| Protein evolution | p. 82 |
| Summary | p. 84 |
| Acknowledgements | p. 84 |
| References | p. 84 |
| Emergent phenomena in biology: the origin of cellular life | p. 89 |
| Introduction | p. 89 |
| Defining emergence | p. 89 |
| Emergence of life: a very brief history | p. 90 |
| The first emergent phenomena: self-assembly processes on the early Earth | p. 91 |
| Sources of amphiphilic molecules | p. 92 |
| The emergence of primitive cells | p. 95 |
| Self-assembly processes in prebiotic organic mixtures | p. 100 |
| Emergence of membrane functions | p. 101 |
| Emergence of growth processes in primitive cells | p. 103 |
| Environmental constraints on the first forms of life | p. 105 |
| Acknowledgements | p. 106 |
| References | p. 106 |
| Life on Earth | p. 111 |
| Extremophiles: defining the envelope for the search for life in the universe | p. 113 |
| Introduction | p. 113 |
| What is an extremophile? | p. 114 |
| Categories of extremophiles | p. 115 |
| Environmental extremes | p. 115 |
| How do they do it? | p. 123 |
| Examples of extreme ecosystems | p. 125 |
| Space: new categories of extreme environments | p. 126 |
| Life in the Solar System? | p. 127 |
| Conclusions | p. 130 |
| Acknowledgements | p. 131 |
| References | p. 131 |
| Hyperthermophilic life on Earth - and on Mars? | p. 135 |
| Introduction | p. 135 |
| Biotopes | p. 136 |
| Sampling and cultivation | p. 138 |
| Phylogenetic implications | p. 139 |
| Physiologic properties | p. 141 |
| Examples of recent HT organisms | p. 143 |
| References | p. 147 |
| Phylogenomics: how far back in the past can we go? | p. 149 |
| Introduction | p. 149 |
| The principles of phylogenetic inference | p. 149 |
| Artefacts affecting phylogenetic reconstruction | p. 152 |
| Strengths and limitations of phylogenomics | p. 155 |
| The importance of secondary simplification | p. 160 |
| The tree of life | p. 164 |
| Frequent strong claims made with weak evidence in their favour | p. 167 |
| Conclusions | p. 171 |
| Acknowledgements | p. 171 |
| References | p. 172 |
| Horizontal gene transfer, gene histories, and the root of the tree of life | p. 178 |
| Introduction | p. 178 |
| How to analyse multigene data? | p. 179 |
| What does the plurality consensus represent? Example of small marine cyanobacteria | p. 182 |
| Where is the root of the 'tree of life'? | p. 183 |
| Use of higher order characters: example of ATPases | p. 185 |
| Conclusions | p. 188 |
| Acknowledgements | p. 188 |
| References | p. 188 |
| Evolutionary innovation versus ecological incumbency | p. 193 |
| The Ediacaran world | p. 193 |
| Preservational context | p. 194 |
| Vendobionts as giant protozoans | p. 195 |
| Kimberella as a stem-group mollusc | p. 198 |
| Worm burrows | p. 202 |
| Stability of ecosystems | p. 203 |
| The parasite connection | p. 204 |
| Conclusions | p. 207 |
| Acknowledgements | p. 208 |
| References | p. 208 |
| Gradual origin for the metazoans | p. 210 |
| Introduction | p. 210 |
| Collagen as a trait tying together metazoans | p. 211 |
| The critical oxygen concentration criterion | p. 212 |
| The Burgess Shale fauna: a radiation on rocky ground | p. 213 |
| Accumulating evidence about snowball Earth | p. 215 |
| North of 80[degree] | p. 216 |
| Conclusion | p. 219 |
| Acknowledgements | p. 219 |
| References | p. 219 |
| Life in the Solar System? | p. 223 |
| The search for life on Mars | p. 225 |
| Introduction | p. 225 |
| Mars today and the Viking search for life | p. 227 |
| Search for second genesis | p. 229 |
| Detecting a second genesis on Mars | p. 235 |
| Conclusions | p. 238 |
| References | p. 238 |
| Life in the dark dune spots of Mars: a testable hypothesis | p. 241 |
| Introduction | p. 241 |
| History | p. 241 |
| Basic facts and considerations about DDSs | p. 243 |
| Challenges and answers | p. 250 |
| Partial analogues on Earth | p. 255 |
| Discussion and outlook | p. 257 |
| Acknowledgements | p. 258 |
| References | p. 258 |
| Titan: a new astrobiological vision from the Cassini-Huygens data | p. 263 |
| Introduction | p. 263 |
| Analogies between Titan and the Earth | p. 264 |
| A complex prebiotic-like chemistry | p. 271 |
| Life on Titan? | p. 278 |
| Conclusions | p. 280 |
| Acknowledgements | p. 281 |
| References | p. 282 |
| Europa, the ocean moon: tides, permeable ice, and life | p. 285 |
| Introduction: life beyond the habitable zone | p. 285 |
| The surface of Europa | p. 286 |
| Tides | p. 295 |
| The permeable crust: conditions for a European biosphere | p. 305 |
| Acknowledgements | p. 309 |
| References | p. 309 |
| Index | p. 313 |
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