Tiny Gold Nanogaps Could Crack the Chirality Puzzle
Looking for biosignatures across the solar system requires looking for asymmetry. Amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, are famously either “left-handed” (L) or “right-handed” (D). We know abiotic processes (i.e. those that create amino acids but don’t involve life) create a 50/50 mixture of the two types, which is called a racemic mixture. But life as we know it almost exclusively relies…
Tiny gold nanogaps could hold the key to unraveling the mystery of chirality, according to a new study. Researchers from Osaka University have developed a solid-state quantum tunneling sensor that can detect the chirality of a single amino acid molecule. This breakthrough could revolutionize the search for biosignatures across the solar system, as it would enable the identification of asymmetric chemical structures associated with life.
The sensor works by taking advantage of the quantum tunneling effect, using just a small piece of gold wire. This development could significantly simplify the search for life beyond Earth, as it would eliminate the need for advanced equipment and chemical disposables currently required for such analyses.
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