The proposed work is the result of a collaboration across multiple institutions, formed at the NASA biosignatures ideas lab, held in february 2024. This proposal aims to evaluate motility as an…

The Johns Hopkins University was awarded a $338,420 grant by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to evaluate motility as a potential composition-independent biosignature for detecting microbial life beyond Earth. The proposed work aims to use time-lapse light microscopy, image analysis algorithms, and a validation framework to characterize biotic movement and distinguish it from non-biological motion like Brownian motion or wind. This grant is the result of a collaboration formed at the NASA Biosignatures Ideas Lab in 2024 and aligns with NASA's interests in identifying agnostic biosignatures relevant for potentially habitable worlds. The award does not utilize a set-aside designation and has a period of performance through January 31, 2027.

The proposed work is the result of a collaboration across multiple institutions, formed at the NASA biosignatures ideas lab, held in february 2024. This proposal aims to evaluate motility as an agnostic biosignature. Agnostic biosignatures are important for detecting microbial life for which we do not know the biochemical composition and are relevant for potentially habitable worlds beyond earth such as mars, europa, enceladus, and titan. Motility is a potential composition-independent biosignature as all microbial life on earth either moves or grows in some way. What is unknown, however, is whether life-like movement can be distinguished from nonlife movement, such as brownian motion, wind, evaporation, freezing, and acceleration due to gravity. Using a combination of timelapse light microscopy, image analysis algorithms, and a comprehensive validation framework, this proposal aims to answer the question: are we able to characterize biotic movement as a biochemistry-independent, agnostic biosignature? Major gaps in the evaluation of movement as an agnostic biosignature include a lack of studies on types of movement other than flagellar motility, and comparison of biological movement with non-biological movement and movement of abiotic material. We aim to address this GAP by using microscopy and advanced image analysis techniques, including optical flow, to identify other movements as a marker or behavior of living things.