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Johnson, AP, Cleaves HJ, Dworkin JP, Glavin DP, Lazcano A, Bada JL.  2008.  The Miller volcanic spark discharge experiment. Science. 322:404-404.   10.1126/science.1161527   Website
Botta, O, Bada JL, Gomez-Elvira J, Javaux E, Selsis F, Summons R.  2008.  "Strategies of life detection": Summary and outlook. Space Science Reviews. 135:371-380.   10.1007/s11214-008-9357-9   Website
Bada, JL, Ehrenfreund P, Grunthaner F, Blaney D, Coleman M, Farrington A, Yen A, Mathies R, Amudson R, Quinn R, Zent A, Ride S, Barron L, Botta O, Clark B, Glavin D, Hofmann B, Josset JL, Rettberg P, Robert F, Sephton M.  2008.  Urey: Mars Organic and Oxidant Detector. Space Science Reviews. 135:269-279.   10.1007/s11214-007-9213-3   AbstractWebsite

One of the fundamental challenges facing the scientific community as we enter this new century of Mars research is to understand, in a rigorous manner, the biotic potential both past and present of this outermost terrestrial-like planet in our solar system. Urey: Mars Organic and Oxidant Detector has been selected for the Pasteur payload of the European Space Agency's (ESA's) ExoMars rover mission and is considered a fundamental instrument to achieve the mission's scientific objectives. The instrument is named Urey in recognition of Harold Clayton Urey's seminal contributions to cosmochemistry, geochemistry, and the study of the origin of life. The overall goal of Urey is to search for organic compounds directly in the regolith of Mars and to assess their origin. Urey will perform a groundbreaking investigation of the Martian environment that will involve searching for organic compounds indicative of life and prebiotic chemistry at a sensitivity many orders of magnitude greater than Viking or other in situ organic detection systems. Urey will perform the first in situ search for key classes of organic molecules using state-of-the-art analytical methods that provide part-per-trillion sensitivity. It will ascertain whether any of these molecules are abiotic or biotic in origin and will evaluate the survival potential of organic compounds in the environment using state-of-the-art chemoresistor oxidant sensors.



Skelley, AM, Cleaves HJ, Jayarajah CN, Bada JL, Mathies RA.  2006.  Application of the mars organic analyzer to nucleobase and amine biomarker detection. Astrobiology. 6:824-837.   10.1089/ast.2006.6.824   AbstractWebsite

The Mars Organic Analyzer (MOA), a portable microfabricated capillary electrophoresis instrument being developed for planetary exploration, is used to analyze a wide variety of fluorescamine-labeled amine-containing biomarker compounds, including amino acids, mono-and diaminoalkanes, amino sugars, nucleobases, and nucleobase degradation products. The nucleobases cytosine and adenine, which contain an exocyclic primary amine, were effectively labeled, separated, and detected at concentrations < 500 nM. To test the general applicability of the MOA for biomarker detection, amino acids and mono- and diamines were extracted from bacterial cells using both hydrolysis and sublimation followed by analysis. The extrapolated limit of detection provided by the valine biomarker was similar to 4 x 10(3) cells per sample. Products of an NH4CN polymerization that simulate a prebiotic synthesis were also successfully isolated via sublimation and analyzed. Adenine and alanine/serine were detected with no additional sample cleanup at 120 +/- 13 mu M and 4.1 +/- mu M, respectively, corresponding to a reaction yield of 0.04% and 0.0003%, respectively. This study demonstrates that the MOA provides sensitive detection and analysis of low levels of a wide variety of amine-containing organic compounds from both biological and abiotic sources.

Bada, JL, Sephton MA, Ehrenfreund P, Mathies RA, Skelley AM, Grunthaner FJ, Zent AP, Quinn RC, Josset JL, Robert F, Botta O, Glavin DP.  2005.  New strategies to detect life on Mars. Astronomy & Geophysics. 46:26-27. AbstractWebsite

The quest to determine whether life existed, or still exists, on Mars continues with several missions planned for the red planet by both the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the next few decades. One instrument designed for these missions is the Mars Organic Detector (MOD), which uses a new approach to achieve exceptionally high detection sensitivities and analysis capabilities for key bio-organic compounds. MOD is scheduled to fly in the ESA ExoMars mission early next decade and will attempt to answer the question of whether we are alone in the solar system. Here the MOD team explains why we have reason to be optimistic about uncovering the organic secrets of Mars.
