Clues about Martian life? Organic matter discovered in a Martian meteorite



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Life on Mars

Thin section of the ALH-77005 in polarized light in the plane. The area studied by FTIR spectroscopy is marked by a rectangle, where the strong
putative alteration mediated by microbes was observed. doi: 10.1515 / astro-2019-0002

According to NASA, scientists agree that there is no life on Mars. However, they continue to assess whether Mars has already had an environment capable of supporting microbial life. Hungarian researchers discovered organic materials embedded in a Martian meteorite discovered in the late 1970s. Scientists were able to determine the presence of organic matter in mineralized form, such as different forms of bacteria in the meteorite, suggesting that life would have could exist on the red planet.

Officially named ALH-77005, the Martian meteorite was discovered in the Allan Hills in Antarctica during the mission of Japan's National Polar Research Institute between 1977 and 1978. The new study "ALG-77005 Shergottite Mineralized Biotinignations" – Clues for Martian life? "Published in the Open Gronomy journal of De Gruyter, by the authors Ildiko Gyollai, Márta Polgári and Szaniszló Bérczi, proposes the presence of active bacteria on Mars. Their research also suggests that there may have been life on other planets.

"Our work is important for a broad audience because it integrates the sciences of planets, earth, biology, chemistry and the environment and will interest many researchers in these areas," says the director. lead author Ildiko Gyollai of the HAS Center for Research on Astronomy and Earth Sciences. in Budapest. "The research will also interest planetary scientists, meteorite and astrobiology experts, as well as researchers from the early days of life and the general public, as it offers an example of a new aspect of microbial mediation in mineral meteorites, "concludes Gyollai. .

This new research could change the review of meteorites in the future. In light of their discovery, the authors believe that the materials of the solar system must be studied to determine if there is evidence of microbial forms in the rocks of space – and that there was once life on Mars.

Publication: Ildikó Gyollai, et al., "Mineralized Biosignatures in ALH-77005 Shergottite – Indices of Martian Life?", Open Astronomy, 2019; doi: 10.1515 / astro-2019-0002

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