An Origin of Life on Mars

• Main Author: Christopher P. Mckay
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: permafrost
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.665.3115; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2845199/pdf/cshperspect-ORI-a003509.pdf

Evidence of past liquid water on the surface of Mars suggests that this world once had hab-itable conditions and leads to the question of life. If there was life on Mars, it would be inter-esting to determine if it represented a separate origin from life on Earth. To determine the biochemistry and genetics of life on Mars requires that we have access to an organism or the biological remains of one—possibly preserved in ancient permafrost. Away to determine if organic material found on Mars represents the remains of an alien biological system could be based on the observation that biological systems select certain organic molecules over others that are chemically similar (e.g., chirality in amino acids). MARS AND A SECOND GENESIS OF LIFE Mars today is a cold dry desert world withsurface conditions that are not habitable even for the hardiest life forms from Earth. The average surface temperature is 2608C and the atmospheric pressure is near the triple point of water: 120 times lower than sea level pressure on Earth. Even worse for habitability, solar