Mars microbes could spread across the planet via dust particles

Let's start with a harsh truth: Mars is very far away and there are still a few decades before we settle there, no matter what the plans of Elon Musk can be. Fortunately we can, kind of, visit Mars here on Earth – as long as we can reach northern Chile. In this part of the planet is the same desert of Atacama. As one of the driest and dustiest places in the world, it is an analogue to test what is happening on Mars without ever leaving the comfort of our gravity and our atmosphere.

A team of international scientists, led by Armando Azua-Bustos, went to Atacama to check how microscopic organisms, such as bacteria and fungi, could use the dust to travel great distances in the desert. Their research, published in the journal Scientific Reports on Thursday, describes the "very simple experiment" that they have developed to test how these microbes could survive difficult conditions, such as high levels of ultraviolet radiation and high levels of light. extreme aridity, encountered in the Atacama.

This very simple experiment saw scientists prepare plates of "broth," a cocktail of nutrients for the growth of microbes, at six specific sites ranging from the coast to the desert. The first site measured 63 kilometers long, while the second measured 50 kilometers. Scientists examined the dust accumulated in empty plates and were able to isolate four species of fungi and five species of bacteria.

The afternoons in Atacama are particularly windy and dusty. Not quite the same level as Mars, which experienced planetopic dust storms in the pastbut windy enough to transport dust particles over long distances. The bacteria and fungi found in the heart of the Atacama could then originate from other regions, especially closer to the coast. The researchers suggest that, according to the species of bacteria, the marine environment of the Coast Range could be a starting point.

Curiously, the team also discovered two bacterial species growing in their broth that have already been reported as bacteria in suspension in the air. The species was originally observed in China and India, which means that it could have come from an even more distant country. The team writes that future work will examine their origin.

How is all this related to life on Mars? Well, as a great analog, the Atacama Desert is a good testing ground for this kind of theories. It is impressive to see miniature beasts such as bacteria and fungi can travel distances that would make people wince, all thanks to the dusty winds. According to what the researchers have seen on Earth, they claim that it is possible that Martian dust has already carried microbes on the red planet.

Mars does not seem particularly kind to life. It is desolate, arid and without a protective atmosphere. However, in the past, there could be pockets where life could exist. Azua-Bustos and his colleagues believe that the proposed transportation system could allow microbial life to survive and even evolve by dispersing from one livable place to another.

Of course, the speculative system of transport of the microbes on Mars is, for the moment, impossible to test on the red planet. For the moment, we have just potential insights into life. However, two new rovers will settle on the Martian surface in the coming years. the Rosalind Franklin of the European Space Agency will look for signs of life on Mars just like The rover Mars 2020 still unknown NASA, which should land in the crater of Jezero in 2021.

Updated 4:40 PM PT