“Life on Titan? With my molecules it is possible"

Could there be life on Titan? Which organisms could live in the methane lakes of the largest moon of Saturn? A young scientist, Manuela Facchin, PhD candidate and post-doc at Ca’ Foscari, synthesized new molecules that can self-assemble creating structures similar to cells but in oil instead of water. The ‘micelles’ of ‘reverse amphiphilic molecules’ indeed shaped in solvent such as cyclohexane.

“We imitate what we know to give a new perspective on how extraterrestrial life could be, starting from the simplest things”, explained Manuela Facchin.

The key is the shape of the molecules. Working on their potential geometry, the researcher was able to synthesize two molecules from existing cells in Titan which can aggregate with one another.

The research lasted three years and was developed in organic and physical chemistry labs at Ca’ Foscari and in physical chemistry labs at the University of Sydney with the support of a doctoral scholarship provided by the Italian Ministry of Education and the prestigious Australian Endeavour Research Fellowship.

The outcome of the research was published in the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) journal by the young researcher and professors at the Department of Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems: Alessandro Scarso, Maurizio Selva, Alvise Perosa and Pietro Riello. Facchin also collaborated with professor Gregory G. Warr, self-assembly expert.

To replicate Titan’s environment, the researcher took the first measurements in liquid methane thanks to the collaboration with an Australian nuclear plant that supported the experiment.

Manuela Facchin has been working in a private lab for a few weeks, but research continues at Ca’ Foscari with thesis projects aiming at synthesizing new reverse amphiphilic molecules able to self-assemble imitating cellular membranes.

Enrico Costa