Biology – Quantitative Biology – Biomolecules
Scientific paper
Dec 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agufm.p53a..03s&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006, abstract #P53A-03
Biology
Quantitative Biology
Biomolecules
6094 Instruments And Techniques
Scientific paper
Detection of life on Mars requires definition of a suitable biomarker and development of sensitive instrumentation capable of performing in situ chemical analyses [1]. Our studies have focused on amino acid analysis because amino acids are more resistant to decomposition than other biomolecules, and because amino acid chirality is a well-defined biomarker. We have developed the Mars Organic Analyzer (MOA), a portable amino acid analysis system that consists of a compact instrument and a novel multi-layer CE microchip, and we have performed extensive laboratory and field validation of this instrument [2]. The heart of the MOA is the 100-mm diameter, 4-mm thick microchip that contains the CE separation channels as well as microfabricated valves and pumps for automated integrated sample preparation and handling. The microfabricated device is operated by a portable instrument that performs CE separation and LIF detection. The limits of detection of fluorescamine-labeled amino acids are in the nM to pM range corresponding to part- per-trillion sensitivities. The MOA has been field tested on soil samples rich in jarosite from the Panoche Valley, CA. These results demonstrate that amines and amino acids can be extracted from sulfate-rich acidic soils such as jarosite and analyzed using the MOA. The MOA was also recently field tested in the Yungay region of the Atacama Desert in Chile. The instrument was successfully operated in this challenging environment and performed over 300 amino acid analyses in a two week period. The MOA has also been used to label and analyze two of the four nucleobases, and methods are being developed to detect PAH's [3]. This presentation will discuss the unique challenges of developing microdevices for sensitive analysis of biomarker compounds. We will also describe current efforts to develop multichannel analysis systems and microfluidic automated analysis systems that will be used to enable flight versions of this instrument. For more details on this work and on the development of the Urey Instrument suite for the ESA Exomars Mission see http://astrobiology.berkeley.edu [1] Bada, J. L. et al., (2005) Astronomy & Geophysics 46, 26-27. [2] Skelley, A. M. et al., (2005) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 104, 1041-1046. [3] Skelley, A. M. et al., Astrobiology, in press.
Aubrey Andrew D.
Bada Jeffrey L.
Ehrenfreund Pascale
Grover William H.
Grunthaner Frank J.
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