ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal
This is a page describing data taken during an experiment at the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source. Information about the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source can be found at https://www.isis.stfc.ac.uk.
Muon Astrochemistry: Chiral RNA by Spin-Polarized Muons?
Abstract: Accounting for the emergence of biological homochirality is central to understanding the origin of life. Without settling for one chirality, copying the information from old RNA to new RNA relies on double stranded RNA which only forms from a homochiral starting pool. If successful, the findings will address a long standing puzzle, whether chirality was caused by an environmental agent, and in our model, cosmic-ray muons. If muons play a role here, we would argue that a supernova explosion may actually be necessary to initiate an enantiomeric bias in prebiotic polymers. As a result, life would be much more likely with a supernova explosion nearby. Our experimental approach for this initial test experiment uses an innovative multiwell technique which will allow us to probe the effect with good statistics. The analysis of the irradiated samples, will be provided (after the beamtime experiment) using HPLC-TOF mass spectrometry, covering the whole spectrum of RNA degradation depending on whether RNA is prepared as structured, double stranded form in left or right chirality, or as unstructured single stranded RNA. The experimental findings will directly allow us to test whether spin- polarized muons can have an effect on molecular chirality.
Principal Investigator: Dr Noemie Globus
Experimenter: Professor Stephen Blundell
Local Contact: Dr Adrian Hillier
Experimenter: Dr Thomas Prokscha
Experimenter: Professor Roger Blandford
Experimenter: Professor Stephan Paul
Experimenter: Mr Sreekar Wunnava
Experimenter: Professor Dieter Braun
DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2500004
ISIS Experiment Number: RB2500004
| Part DOI | Instrument | Public release date | Download Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2500004-1 | ARGUS | 29 February 2028 | Download |
Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source
Data format: RAW/Nexus
Select the data format above to find
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Data Citation
The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research
publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher],
[doi]
For Example:
Dr Noemie Globus et al; (2025): Muon Astrochemistry: Chiral RNA by Spin-Polarized Muons?, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2500004
Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.
