NASA picks ASU research team to guide study of search for life

The ASU team, under the direction of principal investigator Ariel Anbar, a professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and the department of chemistry and biochemistry, attributes much of its recent success to the original ASU NAI team for the positive precedent that it created.

"Our proposal was built on the legacy of the 1999-2004 ASU NAI team, led by Professor Jack Farmer. ASU developed a strong reputation in the astrobiology community during those years in large measure because of the activities of that team," says Anbar. "That reputation helped attract some of us to ASU – it certainly attracted me."

This false-color image of the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa taken from the Galileo mission shows evidence of elements that could have come from a subsurface water ocean. Click here for more information.

"Few scientific questions capture the imagination like studies of the origin of life. Such research is central to the mission of the School of Earth and Space Exploration," says Kip Hodges, director of the school. "Many of our faculty members have been involved in these efforts for years, and it is gratifying to see their contributions recognized through this award."

The ASU team is joined by researchers from partner institutions and centers including University of California, Riverside; University of California, Merced; Rice University and University of Illinois – Chicago, as well as NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the Australian Centre for Astrobiology at the University of New South Wales and the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Under the direction of Anbar, the team plans to refine the criteria to guide the search for life by characterizing life's elemental requirements.