Dictionary

azotosome en · NOUN

Etymology

From azote (“nitrogen”) + -o- + -some (“body”), from French azote (“nitrogen”) and Ancient Greek σῶμα (sôma, “body”), a "nitrogen body", formed by analogy with liposome.

Meanings

1. A theoretical nitrogen-based counterpart to liposome structures composed of acrylonitrile self-assembled membrane in a liquid methane bath
   • Furthermore, Stevenson et al. [51] recently suggested membranes composed of small organic nitrogen compounds, azotosomes that would be capable of forming and functioning in liquid methane at cryogenic temperatures. 2015 July 17, Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Alexander Schulze-Makuch, Joop M. Houtkooper, “The Physical, Chemical and Physiological Limits of Life”, in Life, volume 5, number 3, pages 1472–86:
   • Confirmation of the presence of vinyl cyanide on Titan is especially interesting with respect to the possibility of cell membrane–like azotosomes. 2017 July 28, Mareen Y. Palmer, “ALMA detection and astrobiological potential of vinyl cyanide on Titan”, in Science Advances, volume 3, number 7:
   • This procedure is necessary because of the azotosomes’ high barriers to decomposition. 2015 February 27, James Stevenson, Jonathan Lunine, Paulette Clancy, “Membrane alternatives in worlds without oxygen: Creation of an azotosome”, in Science Advances:

Forms

Relateds

liposome