[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6360\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ELife could exist on Mars today, bacteria tests show\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEarly research results show that microbes could in theory withstand the harsh conditions on Mars.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Most microbes can grow in different types of extremes and the extremes that we are looking at, things like radiation, perchlorate salts and also sulphate salts (found on Mars), they will grow in that,\u2019 said Professor Charles Cockell, from the University of Edinburgh, UK, who is coordinating the work as part of the EU-funded MASE project.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers collect microbes from oxygen-free environments on earth, such as the 1.4 kilometre-deep Boulby salt mine in north-eastern UK, and then put them under conditions similar to those on Mars to see if they can survive.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018It\u2019s just a question of trying to determine what the limits are and that\u2019s the work we\u0027re doing at the moment,\u2019 Prof. Cockell said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe first stage of the European Space Agency\u2019s (ESA) ExoMars mission left for the Red Planet on 14 March, and the objective is to look for signs of life on earth\u2019s nearest neighbour.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMany scientists believe the conditions for widespread life on Mars \u2013 abundant water \u2013 did exist billions of years ago, and the MASE project is also looking for ways to pick out fossilised bacteria in the Martian rock.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, if life still survives today, it\u2019s likely \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/horizon-magazine.eu\/article\/life-could-have-existed-under-martian-surface-esa-chief-woerner_en.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003Ein small residues of salty water underground\u003C\/a\u003E where it can shelter from the extreme temperatures and harsh solar radiation on the surface.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHabitable environments\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Anywhere where we\u2019ve gone to the deep subsurface (on earth) today, where there is liquid water, there is a high chance that environments are habitable,\u2019 said Prof. Cockell, who is also director of the UK Centre for Astrobiology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Simply because Mars is a planet of volcanic rock, and when volcanic rock weathers that provides an environment for microbes to grow and reproduce, I think we can already say there is a high chance there are habitable environments.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo find out, they\u2019ll need to drill into the Martian surface and test the samples they find there for the tell-tale signs of life.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018I think we can already say there is a high chance there are habitable environments.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EProfessor Charles Cockell, University of Edinburgh, UK\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat\u2019s the idea behind the ExoMars mission. The first stage will search out a place to land a rover. The second stage, due to launch in 2018, will take the rover, which carries the two-metre long drill.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr Victor Parro, from the astrobiology centre at Spain\u2019s National Institute for Aerospace Technology in Madrid, has just come back from the Atacama Desert in Chile \u2013 the world\u2019s driest place \u2013 where he\u2019s been helping run tests on the next generation of sensors that they hope could be used to test drill samples aboard the proposed \u003Cem\u003EIcebreaker\u003C\/em\u003E NASA-Ames mission concept, which could launch in 2021.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile the sensors on board ExoMars will heat samples and check for organic compounds that could be indications of life, Dr Parro and his team are working on a test that they say could provide much more conclusive proof.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We are now detecting three-dimensional structures \u2013 biochemical structures \u2013 that, we believe, are true and direct evidence of present life or recently extinct life,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technology works by using biological molecules known as antibodies that will stick specifically to other molecules \u2013 a process used by the immune system to fight disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDNA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe idea is to look for molecules that are found right through the tree of life on earth, such as fragments of proteins or even DNA.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs part of the EU-funded PBSA project, which Dr Parro coordinated, researchers have developed a prototype instrument capable of seeing in real time if the antibodies have bound to anything by using changes in light behaviour.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project finished last year, and now they are working on a system called \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/auditore.cab.inta-csic.es\/solid\/en\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003ESOLID\u003C\/a\u003E, which is based on a common biological test known as ELISA that uses fluorescence to show when one of the antibodies has reacted with something.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022 class=\u0022@aligncenter@\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022Researchers are working to create a smaller version of their SOLID system so it will fit on spacecraft. Image courtesy of SOLID\u0022 height=\u0022430\u0022 src=\u0022\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/SOLID%20technology.jpg\u0022 title=\u0022Researchers are working to create a smaller version of their SOLID system so it will fit on spacecraft. Image courtesy of SOLID\u0022 width=\u0022643\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003EResearchers are working to create a smaller version of their SOLID system so it will fit on spacecraft. Image courtesy of SOLID\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The advantage of this is that the capacity for life detection is much higher,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe next stage for this research is to adapt the system so that it is small and robust enough to fit on board a spacecraft.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis kind of technology means that there\u2019s an increasing chance that we\u2019ll find life if it\u2019s present on Mars, or elsewhere in our solar system.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the same time, the next generation of telescopes, including the James Webb Space Telescope due for launch in 2018, could look out into deep space and analyse the atmospheres of far-off earth-like planets in search of signs of life.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut if we\u2019re still left empty-handed after all these efforts, then it\u2019ll raise another, equally important question.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018At the moment we just don\u2019t know what the origin of life requires, going from simple chemicals to self-replicating microbe,\u2019 Edinburgh\u2019s Prof. Cockell said. \u2018If we looked at many planets, many environments and didn\u2019t find life, then that would tell us that life is extremely rare and that early spark was an unusual event.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018And then we\u2019d have to try and find out exactly why it was, and what happened in those early stages of life that was unusual on the earth.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-pjbgot0hdpm3ymtcgu6rmmanv7bee-shofwjdcgn6ya\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-PJbgoT0HDpM3YmTCgU6RmmAnV7bEe-SHoFWJdCgn6yA\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]