TY  - JOUR
KW  - Cosmic rays
KW  -  Solar energetic particles
KW  -  Radioactivity
KW  -  Ultraviolet
KW  -  Supernova
KW  -  Gamma-ray burst
KW  -  Magnetosphere
KW  -  Panspermia
KW  -  Biosignature
KW  -  GAMMA-RAY BURSTS
KW  -  GALACTIC COSMIC-RAYS
KW  -  SOLAR-PROTON EVENTS
KW  -  EARTH-LIKE PLANETS
KW  -  BACTERIUM DEINOCOCCUS-RADIODURANS
KW  -  NEARBY SUPERNOVA EXPLOSIONS
KW  -  NATURAL FISSION REACTORS
KW  -  LOWER VENUS ATMOSPHERE
KW  -  SEA HYDROTHERMAL VENT
KW  -  HIGH-ENERGY PARTICLES
N1  - This is a copy of an article (Lewis R. Dartnell. Astrobiology. July/August 2011, 11(6): 551-582. doi:10.1089/ast.2010.0528.) published in Astriobiology © 2011 [copyright Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.]; Astrobiology is available online at: http://www.liebertpub.com/ast
EP  -  582
IS  - 6
AV  - public
TI  - Ionizing Radiation and Life
SN  - 1531-1074
A1  - Dartnell, LR
PB  - MARY ANN LIEBERT INC
JF  - Astrobiology
SP  - 551 
VL  - 11
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/ast.2010.0528
ID  - discovery1318827
N2  - Ionizing radiation is a ubiquitous feature of the Cosmos, from exogenous cosmic rays (CR) to the intrinsic mineral radioactivity of a habitable world, and its influences on the emergence and persistence of life are wide-ranging and profound. Much attention has already been focused on the deleterious effects of ionizing radiation on organisms and the complex molecules of life, but ionizing radiation also performs many crucial functions in the generation of habitable planetary environments and the origins of life. This review surveys the role of CR and mineral radioactivity in star formation, generation of biogenic elements, and the synthesis of organic molecules and driving of prebiotic chemistry. Another major theme is the multiple layers of shielding of planetary surfaces from the flux of cosmic radiation and the various effects on a biosphere of violent but rare astrophysical events such as supernovae and gamma-ray bursts. The influences of CR can also be duplicitous, such as limiting the survival of surface life on Mars while potentially supporting a subsurface biosphere in the ocean of Europa. This review highlights the common thread that ionizing radiation forms between the disparate component disciplines of astrobiology.
Y1  - 2011/07//
ER  -