iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 24/09/2026

Dr. Steven Benner spoke at the College of William and Mary last week about the Viking missions to Mars alongside Gentry Lee, Tom Young, Joel Levine, and others. The Viking missions stands a testament to humanity's ingenuity! Link Below! www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHt7...

youtube.com

The Exploration of Mars and the Search for Life on Mars: Viking to Humans

YouTube video by Live from William & Mary

000

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 18/09/2026

Today at 3 PM EDT, Dr. Steven Benner will give a talk titled: “Why Viking More Likely Than Not Found Life on Mars and Why You Do Not Know That Already” Tune in to the livestream! cdsp.wm.edu/mars-symposi...

cdsp.wm.edu

The Exploration of Mars

000

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 30/07/2026

50 yrs ago today, Viking 1 may have found life on Mars! Dr. Benner’s new book "Meet the Neighbors: Life on Mars and How to Find It" tells all. Get your copy now on Amazon!📙 Below is the original respiration data from Viking! 🧪 #Mars #Viking50 #Astrobiology

110

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 09/07/2026

Dr. Steven Benner recently appeared on the Event Horizon podcast to discuss the scientific implications of the 1976 Viking Mars mission, the search for life beyond Earth, and the ideas explored in his upcoming book! Watch it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6h-...

youtube.com

Why Scientists Think NASA Found Life on Mars 50 Years Ago with Dr. Steven Benner

YouTube video by Event Horizon

020

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 12/06/2026

Did NASA Miss Viking’s Discovery of Life on Mars? 🔴 Prof. Avi Loeb's recent article (tinyurl.com/mvn9n7n4), highlights Steven Benner's re-examination of the 1976 Viking mission results. Benner’s new book "Meet the Neighbors" on the topic is out July 23! Pre-order: tinyurl.com/4rcdsc69 #LifeOnMars

tinyurl.com

Did NASA Miss Viking’s Discovery of Life on Mars?

Mainstream scientists warn us about false positives, namely misleading claims for interesting signals that are not substantiated by…

000

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 23/02/2026

Exciting news! We are thrilled to announce that FfAME has been awarded a Space Exploration Science Grant from the Chiwi Foundation (chiwi.ch) to expand our research on the origins of life. We are sincerely grateful to the Chiwi Foundation for its trust and support!

chiwi.ch

The CHiwi Foundation

A Swiss non-profit foundation encouraging research in advanced mathematics, alternative energy, and space exploration. Apply for a grant.

000

Reposted by Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution

Edoardo Gianni @edogia.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

How could a simple self-replicating system emerge at the origins of life? RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but existing ones are so large that their self-replication seems impossible. Could they be smaller? Excited to share our latest work in @science.org on a new small polymerase. 1/n

science.org

A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand

The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life. RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but their large size and structural ...

10509215

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 05/01/2026

Fresh off the lab press! 🧪🚀📰 50 years after Viking, do we understand the results? A new Astrobiology article published by Benner et al. revisits the Viking mission results, presents a pro-biosignature hypothesis, and revives the belated dialectic. Link below! 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/1531...

doi.org

000

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 16/12/2025

Fresh off the lab press! 📰 Scientists from FfAME, Tohoku Univ., and JAMSTEC report a prebiotic route to form long RNA from compounds containing 1-3 carbon, 0-4 hydrogen and 1-3 nitrogen atoms, in geological environments that occurred on early Earth ~4.3 billion years ago. 🔗 doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

doi.org

PNAS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

011

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 12/11/2025

🚀 Our website just got an upgrade! Explore our research, meet the team, and see how we’re advancing AEGIS, artificial DNA, and expanding the boundaries of science! 🔬 Check it out → ffame.org  #FfAME #AEGIS #Research #Astrobiology #Aptamers

ffame.org

FfAME - Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution

000

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 03/11/2025

The talk will focus on the recent discoveries made @ffame.org about how organic compounds react in the presence of sulfuric acid and this related astrobiology on Venus! Link below! astro.ufl.edu/colloquia/

astro.ufl.edu

Colloquia

100

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 03/11/2025

Attention Astrobiology and Explorers! Dr. Jan Spacek will be presenting a colloquium this Thursday Nov. 6th from 12:45 to 1:45 pm at the @ufresearch.bsky.social campus in the Bryant Space Science Center in Room 217.

100

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 22/10/2025

This eLetter motivates the long-needed back-and-forth discussion of the astrobiological potential of near-surface Martian soils. This back-and-forth may belatedly undo the damage that this propagation of errors has done to Mars exploration.

000

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 22/10/2025

This misunderstanding of this fundamental detail of Martian near surface geology has damaged efforts to design missions to explore Mars, now for 50 years.

100

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 22/10/2025

A recent and prominent example comes in a NASA-endorsed 2021 "Community Report From the Biosignatures Standards of Evidence Workshop" chaired by Victoria Meadows (University of Washington) and Heather Graham (NASA-GFCS), whose premises included this propagated mistake.

100

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 22/10/2025

Further repetition of these mistakes led to their further amplification and propagation. The compounded mistakes eventually appeared even in leading astrobiology textbooks and NASA-endorsed documents.

100

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 22/10/2025

This evolved into the view that the Martian soil is "self-sterilizing" because it contained a powerful "mystery" oxidant, and therefore could not possibly hold extant Martian life.

100

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 22/10/2025

This mistake published in Science caused multiple generations of astrobiologists to believe incorrectly that the Martian soil contained no organic molecules.

100

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 22/10/2025

A team of scientists at FfAME (Steve Benner, Jan Spacek, Clay Abraham) joined European astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch to publish this eLetter in Science that reexamines, at last, a misinterpretation published in Science by Klaus Biemann and his coworkers. Links below!

110

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 16/10/2025

Feel free to follow us to keep up to date with our latest research and scientific contributions!

000

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 16/10/2025

5) Enzymatic synthesis and nanopore sequencing of 12-letter supernumerary DNA www.nature.com/articles/s41... 6) A folding motif formed with an expanded genetic alphabet www.nature.com/articles/s41...

100

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 16/10/2025

We would like to highlight the following articles as an introduction to our research: 1) Hachimoji DNA and RNA: A genetic system with eight building blocks www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 2) Catalytic Synthesis of Polyribonucleic Acid on Prebiotic Rock Glasses doi.org/10.1089/ast....

science.org

Hachimoji DNA and RNA: A genetic system with eight building blocks

DNA that includes synthetic bases expands the genetic code from four to eight nucleotide letters

110

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 16/10/2025

FfAME has a long standing history of producing a plethora of outstanding research covering nucleotide chemistry, synthetic biology, origins of life, astrobiology, and diagnostic technologies.

110

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution @ffame.org · 16/10/2025

Hello Researchers and Science Enthusiasts, We are proud to announce that the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution (FfAME) now has a new social media presence!

141