Microbes Capable of Surviving Harsh, Mars-Like Conditions Discovered

[Judi Lynn]

Microbes Capable of Surviving Harsh, Mars-Like Conditions Discovered
June 9, 2012



Soil samples obtained from South American volcanoes have revealed a smattering of different microbe types that have somehow managed to survive in extreme conditions, the University of Colorado-Boulder (CU-Boulder) announced in a June 8 press release.

According to the university, the scientists behind the research discovered bacteria, fungi, and a different type of simple organism known as archaea living in conditions similar to Mars — a landscape which they dub “some of the most inhospitable soils” on the planet.

Ryan Lynch, a doctoral student at the school who was involved in the study, said that none of the species had not yet been indentified or characterized. However, he noted that the organisms, which apparently have different methods of converting energy than ordinary microbes, were “very different than anything else that has been cultured. Genetically, they’re at least 5 percent different than anything else in the DNA database of 2.5 million sequences.”

Lynch was part of a team led by Steve Schmidt, a professor in the CU-Boulder ecology and evolutionary biology department, which collected soil samples from some of the tallest volcanoes in the Atacama region of South America. In this area, the soil is “so depleted of nutrients that nitrogen levels in the scientists’ samples were below detection limits,” and ultraviolet radiation reaches levels up to “twice as intense as in a low-elevation desert.”

More:
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112551427/microbes-capable-of-surviving-harsh-mars-like-conditions-discovered/

[longship]

1. From what I know, I have little doubt that there's been life on Mars.

These extremophiles, like those mentioned in the OP, or like those found in sulphuric acid in dark caves, or at extreme temperatures at hydrothermic vents at the ocean bottom, show that life always finds a way to survive.

If, as many planetary scientists agree, that Mars was much more hospitable to life than Earth earlier in the solar system, life may have developed on Mars before on Earth. There is even speculation that Earth life may have been seeded from Mars.

Regardless, if life ever existed on Mars, we can find evidence. It would be awesome if it still exists. We need to look.

The best thing would be if it had a different chemical basis from Earth life because the extent to the difference is the extent to which we have a second data point, and it isn't us -- life has happened twice in the universe, in one small star system which means that life is likely more common than anybody ever imagined.

I get excited that we could know this answer in our lifetimes.

R&K

[exboyfil]

2. I bet we will find it and

it will use the same combination of four nucleotides as DNA (or be RNA driven with uracil replacing thymine). I think we have shared a biosphere with Mars, and we may never be able to distinguish which started first.

You are right if it does use a different chemistry (the more different the better for gaining knowledge) then it would be one of the greatest discoveries of all time and completely change everything. The probability of microbial life spread widel through the universe will shoot up tremendously.

The efforts to build replicating life from the simplist molecules will also have a chance of answering that question. We only need one instance in an environment roughly equivalent to the early earth to shut down any sort of argument against a material (not supernatural) origin of life.