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- P41H-2696: A Workshop on Extraterrestrial Photosynthesis: Bridging Specialized Scientific Communities in the Search for Life
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Board 2696‚ Hall EFG (Poster Hall)NOLA CC
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Nancy Kiang, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (First Author, Presenting Author)
Robert E. Blankenship, Washington University in St Louis
Christopher Gisriel, University of Wisconsin Madison
Alessandro Agostini, University of Padua
Daniel Canniffe, University of Liverpool
Tanai Cardona, Queen Mary, University of London
Nathan Ennist, University of Washington Seattle Campus
Woodward Fischer, Caltech
Yuka Fujii, SOKENDAI Graduate University for Advanced Studies
Yu Komatsu, Ibaraki University
Betul Kacar, University of Arizona
Nicoletta La Rocca, University of Padua
Avi Mandell, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Taro Matsuo, Osaka University
Gary Moore, Arizona State University
Edward Schwieterman, University of California Riverside
Photosynthesis has been central to the search for life beyond Earth, because it can produce signs of life at the global scale, in both atmospheric gases and biological pigments and other biogenic molecules on a planet’s surface. To date, astrobiology studies on global photosynthetic “biosignatures” have been dominated by astronomers seeking to constrain the detectability of oxygen and the “vegetation red edge,” both produced by oxygenic photosynthesis. Photosynthesis researchers have led astrobiology studies investigating the viability of Earth photosynthetic organisms in alternative environments, and rare theoretical studies that pose novel photosystems that could evolve elsewhere. These studies originate from microbiology, biophysics, biochemistry, geobiology, evolutionary biology, geochemistry, and solar energy. Meanwhile, recent discoveries of alternative chlorophylls for oxygenic photosynthesis are overturning long-held assumptions on the spectral radiation limits of this major life process. Photosynthesis and exoplanet science are at pivotal junctures to tackle critical questions on detecting photosynthesis on other planets. This talk will review scientific developments that have prompted an Extraterrestrial Photosynthesis Workshop to be held preceding AbSciCon 2026. This workshop will engage leading and early career scientists across disciplines, including those new to astrobiology, to review and to shape future research priorities on photosynthesis and life detection.
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