News

Early Life Investigations of Bacterial Chemical Fingerprints at the Nanometer scale

Dr. Alberto Perez-Huerta has been leading a study to investigate the tiny crystals made by bacteria at nanometer scales, and whether they can be used to establish evidence for early life on Earth! In particular, he has been using advanced microscopy and atom probe tomography techniques, using the facilities in the Alabama Analytical Research Center (AARC), to investigate carbon and nitrogen abundances of the crystals, as an indicator of formation by bacteria.

His research was recently published in the journal PNAS, and has been covered in the UA news.

Congrats to Alberto and his collaborators!