| In this thesis I have investigated the impact of ionizing radiation from the environment on the stability of bacterial spores and amino acids. I measured the radiolysis constant of amino acids and the inactivation constant of bacterial spores. To put these results in the context of a natural setting, I have selected four different cases and calculated the radiation environment for meteorites, the Martian subsurface, terrestrial halite fluid inclusions, and fossil bones.; Bacterial spores exhibit a remarkable resistance to adverse environments and are the best example for the long-term survival of life forms. On a molecular level, amino acids are of particular interest because of their importance in biochemistry and their stability in the environment. The significance of amino acids, however, goes back to a time before life existed. The exogenous delivery of amino acids by meteorites might have been essential to provide the required supply of organic molecules for the origin of life on the Earth. There is one common threat, however, to the preservation of amino acids and bacterial spores in all known terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments: ionizing radiation.; Amino acids in meteorites are exposed to radiation from internal radioactivity and space radiation. I show that this radiation decomposes substantial amounts of amino acids over time, indicating a higher exogenous delivery of amino acids to the early Earth. The total radiodecomposition since the synthesis of amino acids is between 23 and 68%. Radiodecomposition induces a certain fractionation in favor of smaller amino acids.; Fossil bones show a post-mortem uranium uptake. My results suggest a substantial radiodecomposition of amino acids on a 10 million year time scale. Age determination based on racemization of amino acids will be affected in fossil bones that are older than 1--30 million years.; My results on the stability of bacterial spores in halite fluid inclusions and on Mars suggest that radiation limits the long-term survival of viable spores to less than 100 million years in fluid inclusions, and 100--200 million years in the Martian sub-surface. Radiation, however, does not substantially limit the long-term stability of potential amino acid biomarkers in the Martian sub-surface. |
