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Science 3 May 2002:
Vol. 296. no. 5569, pp. 864 - 868
DOI: 10.1126/science.1069863
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Review

Planetary Biology--Paleontological, Geological, and Molecular Histories of Life

Steven A. Benner,1234* M. Daniel Caraco,145 J. Michael Thomson,2 Eric A. Gaucher3

The history of life on Earth is chronicled in the geological strata, the fossil record, and the genomes of contemporary organisms. When examined together, these records help identify metabolic and regulatory pathways, annotate protein sequences, and identify animal models to develop new drugs, among other features of scientific and biomedical interest. Together, planetary analysis of genome and proteome databases is providing an enhanced understanding of how life interacts with the biosphere and adapts to global change.

1 Department of Chemistry,
2 Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, and
3 NASA Astrobiology Institute, Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville FL, 32611-7200, USA.
4 Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Post Office Box 13174, Gainesville FL, 32604, USA.
5 Department of Chemistry, ETH Hönggerberg, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: benner{at}chem.ufl.edu

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