Some researchers at Rutgers University are working on a special project for NASA, by studying how life began on Earth.

The team is studying protein or peptides, which are the basic building blocks of life.

“Everyone’s questioning – do aliens exist?” says Rutgers postdoctoral research associate Saroj Poudel.

This is part of the project. The team says that by researching how life began on Earth, they can see if life can begin on other planets out in space.

“No one has really don’t this kind of work before in this way,” says Douglas Pike, a Ph.D. candidate in biophysics.

The team spends their time in the lab and on the computer creating the proteins to see in what conditions they can exist.

“Then maybe we can find those similar conditions on different planets,” Poudel says.

But before anyone gets too excited about alien creatures that they see in the movies, the team says that if any life is found, it would most likely be tiny microbes.

The team says that the main focus of the project is to provide NASA with discovers that will guide them on future missions.

More information about the team can be found on Rutgers University’s website.