Fabian Klenner
Planetary scientist at uc-riverside; co-author with gideon-yoffe of the May 2026 Nature Astronomy paper proposing a statistical agnostic-biosignature method based on amino-acid and fatty-acid richness/evenness (src-alien-biology-detection-method-2026-05). Previously known for mass-spectrometry analysis of icy grains from ocean-world plumes (Enceladus, Europa), connecting his work to ocean-worlds biosignature detection.
Key contributions
- Statistical-diversity biosignature framework (2026): biological samples show more diverse and evenly distributed amino-acid pools than abiotic ones; fatty acids follow the inverse pattern.
- Method validated across ~100 datasets including microbes, soils, fossilized dinosaur eggshells, Bennu and Murchison meteorites, asteroids, and lab-synthesis abiotics.
- Instrument-agnostic: works on data from existing mission payloads.
Notable quotes
“Life does not only produce molecules. Life also produces an organizational principle that we can see by applying statistics.” — Klenner, UC Riverside News (May 11 2026)