Current strategies for biosignature detection rely mainly on identification of well-established and widely accepted features and signatures associated with the biologic processes of life on Earth, such as particular classes of molecules and isotopic signatures, enantiomeric excesses, and patterns within the molecular weights of fatty acids or other lipids. 

As we begin to explore icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn and other destinations far beyond Earth, methods that identify unknowable, unfamiliar features and chemistries that may represent processes of life as-yet unrecognized become increasingly important.  Life detection without presumption of terran characteristics presents a formidable challenge to any astrobiology strategy. How do we contend with the truly alien? “Agnostic” approaches to biosignature and life detection are designed to target generic characteristics of life that distinguish it from abiotic chemistry. These methods require us to utilize existing instrumentation in more general ways, pursue new leads, and synthesize data with probabilistic approaches, since agnostic methods may trade definitiveness for inclusivity. 

This seminar will outline some of the approaches under investigation in the Laboratory for Agnostic Biosignatures, discuss potential paths towards “agnostification”, and address some of the methodological problems and knowledge gaps posed by the problem of considering novel indications of life.