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What Can Life on Earth Tell Us About Life in the Universe?

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Genesis - In The Beginning

Part of the book series: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology ((COLE,volume 22))

Abstract

We review the most fundamental features common to all terrestrial life. We argue that the ubiquity of these features makes them the best candidates for being features of extraterrestrial life. Other frequently espoused candidates are less secure because they are based on subjective notions of universal fitness, not on features common to all terrestrial life. For example, major transitions in the evolutionary pathway that led to Homo sapiens are sometimes considered to be fundamental transitions in the evolution of all life. However, these “major transitions” are largely arbitrary because a series of different major transitions can be identified along the evolutionary pathway to any extant species.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Planetary Science Institute, Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics and the Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Charles H. Lineweaver & Aditya Chopra

Authors
  1. Charles H. Lineweaver
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  2. Aditya Chopra
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Correspondence to Charles H. Lineweaver .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Jerusalem, Mevo Hadas 20, Efrat, 90435, Israel

    Joseph Seckbach

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Lineweaver, C.H., Chopra, A. (2012). What Can Life on Earth Tell Us About Life in the Universe?. In: Seckbach, J. (eds) Genesis - In The Beginning. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 22. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2941-4_40

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