Recently, a new astronomy paper published in Nature Communications, an academic journal under Springer Nature, pointed out that, as a challenge to detect life on Mars, the scientific instruments currently deployed on Mars may not be able to meet the requirements of the Martian environment. Sensitivity to detect possible signs of life.
Armando Azua-Bustos, the corresponding author and first author of the paper, the Spanish Astrobiology Research Center and the Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the Autonomous University of Chile, together with collaborators, tested the current and advanced A sample from the "Red Stone" was analyzed using laboratory equipment or instruments that may be sent to Mars.
"Redstones" are the fossilized remains of sediments located in a river delta in Chile's Atacama Desert.
The deposits were formed under extremely arid conditions 160-100 million years ago and have similar geology to the Jezero crater that Perseverance is studying on Mars.
Using highly sensitive laboratory techniques, the authors of the paper discovered a mixture of biosignatures of extinct and living microbes.
The results of microbial culture and gene sequencing showed that many of these DNA sequences came mainly from unidentifiable "dark microbiomes", most of whose genetic material came from never-before-described microorganisms.
However, an analysis of detection instruments in service on Mars shows that these instruments can barely detect molecular fossil signatures at the limit of detection.
"Nature-Communications" published a "News and Views" article by peer experts at the same time, pointing out that if there was life on Mars billions of years ago, there would be low levels of organic matter, and the results of this study show that the currently used Mars It is difficult or impossible to detect such low levels of organic matter with existing techniques.
The Opinion article also highlights the need to bring samples back to Earth, so that the final conclusion on whether life ever existed on Mars can be drawn.
(Reporter Sun Zifa video source Springer Nature production Liu Peng)
Editor in charge: [Liu Xingchen]