The Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) is an astrobiology and origins-of-life research center at the Institute of Science Tokyo. In April 2026, ELSI researchers harrison-b-smith and lana-sinapayen published the agnostic population-statistics biosignature detection method, which searches for signs of life across exoplanet populations via statistical correlations arising from panspermia and environmental modification, without identifying any specific biosignature chemistry. See src-panspermia-agnostic-biosignature-2026-04.