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We are all Martians.
That’s the astonishing claim from a biochemist who says he has evidence that essential ingredients for life originated on Mars and made the journey to Earth aboard a meteor.
“The evidence seems to be building that we are actually all Martians; that life started on Mars and came to Earth on a rock,” said Steven Benner of The Westheimer Institute for Science and Technology in Gainesville, Fla.
Billions of years ago, Martian minerals had an element, not found on Earth, that was key to kick-starting biology, he says, adding that although the Red Planet set the template for life, it was Earth that allowed it to flourish.
“It’s lucky that we ended up here nevertheless, as certainly Earth has been the better of the two planets for sustaining life,” Benner said.
“If our hypothetical Martian ancestors had remained on Mars, there might not have been a story to tell.”
The minerals in the meteor would have worked with the heat and light the Earth gets from the sun to create the life-generating primordial soup, rather than simple tar, he says.
“Certain elements seem able to control the propensity of organic materials to turn into tar, particularly boron and molybdenum, so we believe that minerals containing both were fundamental to life first starting,” Benner said.
“Analysis of a Martian meteorite recently showed that there was boron on Mars; we now believe that the oxidized form of molybdenum was there, too.”
He presented his findings this week at the Goldschmidt geochemistry conference in Florence, Italy.
“This form of molybdenum couldn’t have been available on Earth at the time life first began, because 3 billion years ago, the surface of the Earth had very little oxygen, but Mars did,” Benner said.
“It’s yet another piece of evidence which makes it more likely life came to Earth on a Martian meteorite rather than starting on this planet.”
With two NASA rovers scouring its surface, the Red Planet has long been a source of fascination.
The Mars One Foundation has accepted more than 165,000 applications from space-cadet wannabes seeking to be pioneers on a planet that has no known air, water or food sources.
The nonprofit foundation is accepting applicants until tomorrow, when up to 40 people will be picked for a one-way trip to Mars in 2023. Mars One says it has accepted applications from 140 countries.