Can life arise on Mars? Interesting research results

Two different groups of researchers recently examined Is it possible to grow plants on Mars and the Moon?. It is true that Earth is fortunately not yet facing a problem like in the movie “Interstellar”, but from a scientific perspective it is a fascinating topic.

Unfortunately, as Jessica Atkins and her colleagues checked on the Moon, the soil there is rich in zinc and aluminumby which absorbs water poorlyand also it lacks a microbiomewhich we find in Earth’s soil. For this reason, the Moon is not conducive to the effective cultivation of plants, and therefore they will not grow healthily. There are ways to improve soil fertility on the Moon, but growing crops there is still a challenge environmental stresswhich translates into limited growth and yellowing of the leaves.

In turn, the second group of researchers (led by Jyothi Raghavendra) focused on whether microorganisms could survive in Martian conditions. In this case, it wasn’t about plants, but about something more fundamental: whether even minimal life could be supported in simulated Martian soil.

Scientists by 60 days observed samples of Martian regolith under controlled conditions, with humidity equivalent to that on Mars (about 34%). Interestingly, for the first time For 30 days, the DNA mass increasedwhich means that the microbes present there actually started to multiply despite the very hostile environment.

After two months, however, the situation reversed – the amount of DNA dropped to zerosuggesting that the microorganisms were unable to survive long-term in these conditions. Still, the mere fact that they have been rising over a period of time is an important clue to scientists. This could help in future experiments on where to look for signs of life on Mars and what conditions are the bare minimum for microorganisms to survive.