George.Cooper@nasa.gov
Title: Scientist
Education:
Ph.D., Chemistry, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.
B.S., Chemistry, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.
Research Interests:
The work in our lab involves the molecular and stable isotope analysis of meteoritic organic compounds to determine their cosmochemical origins. These compounds are a glimpse into some of the solar system’s earliest chemical processes.
Selected Publications:
Milshteyn D, Cooper G, Deamer D (2019) Chemiosmotic energy for primitive cellular life: Proton gradients are generated across lipid membranes by redox reactions coupled to meteoritic quinones. Scientific reports, 9(1), 1-12.
Cooper G, Yim S, Lanoiselée J, Sorden S, Ramirez FG (2019) The baseline resolution of Aldo-monosaccharide enantiomers: Simplified GC–MS analyses using acetal-trifluoroacetyl derivatives for complex samples. Journal of Chromatography B, 1126, 121761.
Cooper G, Rios A, Nuevo M (2018) Monosaccharides and Their Derivatives in Carbonaceous Meteorites: A Scenario for Their Synthesis and Onset of Enantiomeric Excesses. Life, 8(3), 36.
Nuevo M, Cooper G, Sandford SA (2018) Deoxyribose and deoxysugar derivatives from photoprocessed astrophysical ice analogues and comparison to meteorites. Nature Communications, 9(1), 5276.
Wilhelm MB, Davila AF, Parenteau MN, Jahnke LL, Abate M, Cooper G, et al. (2018) Constraints on the Metabolic Activity of Microorganisms in Atacama Surface Soils Inferred from Refractory Biomarkers: Implications for Martian Habitability and Biomarker Detection. Astrobiology, 18(7), 955-966.
Cooper G, Rios AC (2016) Enantiomer excesses of rare and common sugar derivatives in carbonaceous meteorites. P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 113, E3322-E3331.
Cooper G, Horz F, Oleary A, Chang S (2014) Highly stable meteoritic organic compounds as markers of asteroidal delivery (2014) EPSL 385: p. 206-215.
Jenniskens P, et al. (2012) Radar-enabled recovery of the Sutter’s Mill meteorite, a carbonaceous chondrite regolith breccia. Science 338, 1583-1587.
Tanaka Z, Perry M, Cooper G, Tang S, McKay CP, Chen B (2012) NIR Raman spectroscopy of Precambrian carbonate stromatolites with post-depositional organic inclusions. Appl. Spectrosc. 66, 911-916.
Cooper G, Reed C, Nguyen D, Carter M, Wang Y (2011) Detection and formation scenario of citric acid, pyruvic acid, and other possible metabolism precursors in carbonaceous meteorites. P Natl Acad Sci USA 108:14015-14020.
Sandford SA, et al. (2010) Assessment and control of organic and other contaminants associated with the Stardust sample return from comet 81P/Wild 2. Meteorit Planet Sci 45:406–433.
Cooper G, Sant M, Asiyo C (2009) Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry resolution of sugar acid enantiomers on a permethylated β-cyclodextrin stationary phase. J Chromatogr A 1216:6838–6843.
Brownlee D. et al. (2006) Comet 81P/Wild 2 Under a Microscope. Science 314:1711-1716.
Sandford SA, et al. (2006) Organics captured from comet 81P/Wild 2 by the Stardust spacecraft. Science 314:1720-1724.
Pizzarello S, Cooper GW, Flynn GJ (2006) The Nature and Distribution of the Organic Material in Carbonaceous Chondrites and Interplanetary Dust Particles in Meteorites and the Early Solar System II. D. Lauretta, L. A. Leshin, and H. Y. McSween Jr., Eds. University of Arizona Press.
Lerner NR, Cooper GW (2005) Iminodicarboxylic acids in the Murchison meteorite: evidence of Strecker reactions. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 69:2901-2906.
Bernstein MP, Dworkin JP, Sandford SA, Cooper GW, Allamandola LJ (2002) Racemic amino acids from the ultraviolet photolysis of interstellar ice analogues. Nature 416:401-403.
Cooper G, Kimmich N, Belisle W, Sarinana J, Brabham K, Garrel L (2001) Carbonaceous meteorites as a source of sugar-related organic compounds for the early Earth. Nature 414:879-883.
Pizzarello S, Hang Y, Becker L, Poreda RJ, Nieman RA, Cooper GW, Williams M (2001) The organic content of the Tagish Lake meteorite, a new pathway in prebiotic chemical evolution. Science 293:2236-2239.
Pizzarello S, Cooper GW (2001) Molecular and chiral analysis of amino acid derivatives from the Murchison and Murray meteorites. Meteorit Planet Sci 36:897-909.
Ehrenfreund P, Glavin D, Botta O, Cooper G, Bada J (2001) Extraterrestrial amino acids in Orgueil and Ivuna: Tracing the parent body of CI type carbonaceous chondrites. P Natl Acad Sci USA 98:2138-2141.
Cooper GW, Thiemens MH, Jackson T, Chang S (1997) Sulfur and hydrogen isotope anomalies in meteoritic sulfonic acids. Science 277:1072-1074.