Los angeles: Scientists say they have identified a hidden chemical pattern that could help detect life beyond Earth.
According to United News of Bangladesh, the new study, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, suggests that scientists may not need to focus only on finding specific molecules on distant planets and moons. Instead, they can look at how those molecules are organized.
For years, scientists have searched for signs of life by looking for compounds such as amino acids and fatty acids. But these molecules can also form naturally without any biological activity. They have been found in meteorites and created in laboratories that mimic conditions in space. As a result, simply detecting these chemicals is not enough to confirm the presence of life.
The researchers found that amino acids in living organisms are usually more diverse and more evenly distributed than those produced through non-biological processes. Fatty acids showed the opposite pattern. In this case, non-living chemical reactions tended to produce more evenly distributed mixtures than living systems.
The team said this is the first study to show that signs of life can be identified using statistical analysis alone, without relying on a specific instrument. That means the method could potentially be applied to data already being collected by missions exploring Mars, Europa, and Enceladus.
To develop the method, the researchers adapted a statistical approach commonly used in ecology to measure biodiversity. Ecologists use two key concepts: richness, which counts how many different species are present, and evenness, which measures how evenly they are distributed. The scientists applied the same ideas to chemical data from around 100 existing datasets, including samples from microbes, soils, fossils, meteorites, asteroids, and laboratory-made materials.
The method was also able to detect different levels of preservation in biological materials. Even heavily degraded samples retained signs of their biological origin. Fossilized dinosaur eggshells included in the study still showed detectable statistical patterns linked to ancient life.
The researchers stressed that no single method will be enough to prove the existence of extraterrestrial life. Still, the team believes the new statistical approach could become an important tool for future space missions. ‘Our approach is one more way to assess whether life may have been there,’ Klenner said. ‘And if different techniques all point in the same direction, then that becomes very powerful.’