Rocks on Mars may provide link to evidence of living organisms roughly 4 billion years ago

Featured In: Chemicals and Reagents

By EurekAlert Thursday, July 29, 2024

newsvine diigo google
slashdot
Share
Loading...

London, 30 July 2024 – A new article in press of the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters unveils groundbreaking research on the hydrothermal formation of Clay-Carbonate rocks in the Nili Fossae region of Mars. The findings may provide a link to evidence of living organisms on Mars, roughly 4 billion years ago in the Noachian period.

The paper "Hydrothermal formation of Clay-Carbonate alteration assemblages in the Nili Fossae region of Mars", by Adrian J. Brown et al, suggests that carbonate bearing rocks found in the Nili Fossae region of Mars are made up of hydrothermally altered ultramafic (perhaps komatiitic) rocks. It also shows that the carbonates at Nili Fossae are not pure Mg-carbonate. Moreover, the study explains that talc is present in close proximity to the carbonate locations - rather than previously suggested saponite - and talc-carbonate alteration of high-Mg precursor rocks has taken place.

Adrian Brown, corresponding author, explains: "We suggest that the associated hydrothermal activity would have provided sufficient energy for biological activity on early Mars at Nili Fossae. Furthermore, in the article we discuss the potential of the Archean volcanics of the East Pilbara region of Western Australia as an analog for the Nochian Nili Fossae on Mars. They indicate that biomarkers or evidence of living organisms, if produced at Nili, could have been preserved, as they have been in the North Pole Dome region of the Pilbara craton."

"Earth and Planetary Science Letters is delighted to be publishing this exciting new scientific finding, which marks a significant finding in the Nili Fossae region of Mars, highlighting similarities between traces of life on early Earth and early Mars, and suggests a landing site for an exobiology mission to Mars", remarked Tilman Spohn, Editor, Earth and Planetary Sciences."

SOURCE

Join the Discussion
Rate Article: Average 0 out of 5
register or log in to comment on this article!

0 Comments

Add Comment

Text Only 2000 character limit

Page 1 of 1

Research Exchange

New Frontiers: The Changing World of Biospecimen Collection and Management

Jul 30

The growth of biomarker research and personalized medicine requires more unified and large-scale software systems to track biological materials.

Optical Imaging in Stem Cell Research

Jun 1

Developing sensitive, non-invasive technologies to monitor engraftment in vivo is essential to accelerate the clinical implementation of cell therapies.

Standing Up in a Court of Law

Jun 1

Private forensic testing laboratory ensures data integrity with advanced calibration systems.

Simultaneous Measurement of Multiple Signaling Pathways in Human Leukemias Using Flow Cytometry

May 24

Next generation assays will need to be robust and standardized in order to make the transition from a research procedure to a routine clinical assay. Flow cytometry provides a unique and sensitive method to accomplish these requirements.

Step up to the MIQE

Mar 30

Over the years, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has evolved into a readily automated, high throughput quantitative technology. Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) has become the industry standard for the detection and quantification of nucleic acids for multiple application, including quantification of RNA levels. But a lack of consensus among researchers on how to best perform and interpret qPCR experiments presents a major hurdle for advancement of the technology. This problem is exacerbated by insufficient experimental detail in published work, which impedes the ability of others to accurately evaluate or replicate reported results.

Fast Optimization of a Multiplex Influenza Identification Panel Using a Thermal Gradient

Mar 30

The year 2009 was marked by the emergence of a novel influenza A (H1N1) virus that infects humans. There is a need to identify the different strains of influenza virus for purposes of monitoring the H1N1 strain pandemic and for other epidemiological and scientific purposes.

Advantages of Monolithic Laser Combiner Technology in Confocal Microscopy Systems

Jan 6

Fluorescence microscopy techniques require a reliable light source at the desired wavelength or wavelengths, with minimal downtime for maintenance and alignment. Lasers are a popular light source, although the alignment and upkeep of laser combiners is a time-consuming prospect for many users.

Size-Exclusion Chromatography for Purification of Biomolecules

Dec 2 2009

Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) is a popular method to separate biomolecules based on their size. Primarily, it is applied to the separation of biopolymers such as proteins and nucleic acids, i.e. water-soluble polymers.

Using the Tecan Genesis Workstation to Automate a Cytometric Bead Array (CBA) Immunoassay

Mar 11

The poster describe the process involved in automating a Cytometric Bead Array (CBA) immunoassay developed to measure relative concentrations of serum antibodies against Tetanus (TT), Sperm Whale Myoglobin (SWM) and Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin (KLH) in KLH-immunized volunteers.

Ensuring Quality in Assays Performed with Automated Liquid Handlers

Feb 2

The focus of this presentation is to highlight the need of ensuring quality in important assays performed with automated liquid handlers. Nearly all assays performed within a laboratory are volume-dependent. In turn, all concentrations of biological and chemical components in these assays, as well as the associated dilution protocols, are volume-dependent. Because analyte concentration is volume-dependent, an assay’s results might be falsely interpreted if liquid handler variability and inaccuracies are unknown or if the system(s) go unchecked for a long period.

Inkjet System for Protein Crystallography

Feb 1

X-ray crystallography is used routinely by scientists to obtain the three dimensional structure of a biological molecule of interest.Such information can be used to determine how a pharmaceutical interacts with a protein target and what changes might improve functionality. However, the crystallization of macromolecules still remains a serious hindrance in structural determination despite impressive advances in screening methods and technologies.

Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity in a Drosophila Memory Mutant

Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity in a Drosophila Memory Mutant

Nov 9 2009

Action selection is modulated by external stimuli either directly or via memory retrieval. In a constantly changing environment, animals have evolved attention-like processes to effectively filter the incoming sensory stream. These attention-like processes, in turn, are modulated by memory. The neurobiological nature of how attention, action selection and memory are inter-connected is unknown. We describe here new phenotypes of the memory mutant radish in the fruit fly Drosophila.

A two-parameter generalized Poisson model to improve the analysis of RNA-seq data.

3 hours ago

Deep sequencing of RNAs (RNA-seq) has been a useful tool to characterize and quantify transcriptomes. However, there are significant challenges in the analysis of RNA-seq data, such as how to separate signals from sequencing bias and how to perform reasonable...

Deconstructing nucleotide binding activity of the Mdm2 RING domain.

3 hours ago

Mdm2, a central negative regulator of the p53 tumor suppressor, possesses a Really Interesting New Gene (RING) domain within its C-terminus. In addition to E3 ubiquitin ligase activity, the Mdm2 RING preferentially binds adenine base nucleotides, and such...

The phosphatase interactor NIPP1 regulates the occupancy of the histone methyltransferase EZH2 at Polycomb targets.

3 hours ago

Polycomb group (PcG) proteins are key regulators of stem-cell and cancer biology. They mainly act as repressors of differentiation and tumor-suppressor genes. One key silencing step involves the trimethylation of histone H3 on Lys27 (H3K27) by EZH2, a core...

Cooperative translocation enhances the unwinding of duplex DNA by SARS coronavirus helicase nsP13.

3 hours ago

SARS coronavirus encodes non-structural protein 13 (nsP13), a nucleic acid helicase/NTPase belonging to superfamily 1 helicase, which efficiently unwinds both partial-duplex RNA and DNA. In this study, unwinding of DNA substrates that had different duplex...

Prokariotic Cell Collection in Denmark

Nov 6 2009

I would like to know about a prokariotic cell collection in Denmark. Is there a cell bank in this country? I need a Lactobacillus strain for a fermentation assay and this information about the bank is very helpful for me.

Request for Entries

Oct 16 2009

Ask the Experts is your chance to get the answers to questions on applications, materials, methods, processes, and technologies. Email you question to bst_web@advantagemedia.com, and the editors of Bioscience Technology will find an appropriate expert to answer it. Watch this space in the future to see the questions your colleagues are posting.

STAY INFORMED: SUBSCRIBE TO

Magazine and E-mail Newsletters

Loading...
E-mail:   

MULTIMEDIA

Video:

Viewing SureFocus Slides

Jun 11

A demonstration of SureFocus Microscope Slides in the review of AFB Smears. SureFocus Slides are a patent-pending breakthrough in tuberculosis detection, as their fluorescent staining circle remains visible during review, Fluorescence Microscopy.

Podcasts:

Allen Institute for Brain Research

Allen Institute for Brain Research

Oct 14 2009

Discussed in this interview are both the mouse brain project and the human cortex project with an emphasis on the importance of these projects to neuroscience research.

Information: