What are the rules of planetary life?
The rock record captures molecular information about the history of life.
Biogeochemical information
We measure compounds in the rock record that carry information. We are interested in understanding and quantifying that information: What does it tell us about the history of life? How has the Earth’s surface environment changed? Are there consistent rules of life that could apply to other habitable planets?
The central dogma
The central dogma of biochemistry is that DNA makes RNA makes proteins. We recognize that many protein-catalyzed reactions produce products that can be recognized in the fossil record. To understand these fossils, we need to examine the entire process.
From Rocks to the Environment to the Laboratory
In the rock record, the only biological organic molecules that get preserved are generally hydrocarbons derived from lipids. DNA, RNA, and proteins are too labile, and do not survive.
But in modern environments, far more information is available - not only nucleic acids and proteins but environmental context, spatial information, and the possibility to make detailed time series measurements.
Understanding how geochemical signals emerge from complex environments is our fundamental task.