There may not be much going on at Mars right now that is biological, however, the dusty red planet may not be as unstable as it seems. Recent testing has shown that cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, can grow successfully in Martian atmospheric conditions. According to a study, published in EurekAlert, scientists have said that the test is an important step towards cyanobacteria-based life support systems for human habitats when we finally make our way.
Cyprien Verseux, an astrobiologist at the University of Bremen in Germany, said, “Here we show that cyanobacteria can use gases found in the Martian atmosphere, at low total pressure, as their source of carbon and nitrogen. Under these conditions, cyanobacteria retained their ability to grow in water containing only Mars-like dust and could still be used to feed other microbes. This could help make long-term missions to Mars sustainable ”.
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‘Cyanobacteria boom’
Cyanobacteria are highly contagious in their habitat, even killing other organisms with toxins. But they are essential for life on Earth. Scientists believe that ‘cyanobacteria boom’ 2.4 million years ago was largely responsible for the respiratory environment. They said that when it exploded on the scene, cyanobacteria were pumping the atmosphere with oxygen, dramatically altering the entire planet.
Observing this premise, scientists are now questioning whether cyanobacteria can be used to create oxygen on an oxygen-free planet like Mars. It is worth noting that all species of cyanobacteria produce oxygen as a photosynthetic byproduct, and are a valuable source of it. If taken to the Red Planet, the cyanobacteria could help repair the carbon dioxide (currently 95 percent) in the Martian atmosphere by converting it to organic fertilizers and settling nitrogen (nitrogen). 3 percent) to nutrition.
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However, Mars ’atmospheric pressure is a big solution. Scientists have noted that only one percent of the Earth’s atmospheric pressure is too low for melt water to exist, and cyanobacteria cannot grow there directly or extract enough nitrogen. The researchers then decided on a bioreactor called Atmos at 10 percent of the Earth’s atmospheric pressure. According to the study, it exceeds the values of Co2 and Nitrogen and contains water, which can be formed by melting ice that is already available on Mars even though there is no melt water.
The system can be controlled by pressure and temperature. Then the scientists grew enough cyanobacteria in this system. To test their success, they used these cyanobacteria to grow Escherichia coli – as a test to see if Martian cyianobacteria would actually work. As it turned out, they were perfectly working.
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