A discovery from Chile can change the way to explore Mars: this is the dark microbiome

Earth has some geological similarities with Mars, as areas made up of sandstone and clay. A group of researchers worked in the Atacama Desert, in northern Chile, finding an element that can change the way of exploring the red planet: it is the dark microbiome.

In front of the works in the Red stone, in Atacama, was the astrobiologist Armando Azua-Bustos. This Chilean is a research scientist at the Center for Astrobiology of Madrid.

The term dark Microbiome, coined by scientists, refers to the genetic material of hitherto unknown microorganisms. It is similar to the dark matter, a hypothetical form of matter in the universe that remains unidentified.

Their research was published in February in Nature Communications, under the title The dark microbiome and extremely low amount of organic matter in the Atacama Fossil Delta reveal the detection limits of life on Mars.

For scientists, the instruments currently deployed on Mars they might lack the sensitivity needed to identify potential life traits.

The assessments were made in an ancient river bed at Piedra Roja, a desert setting that is geologically similar to the Martian Jezero crater, where the NASA’s Perseverance rover.

Piedra Roja is made up of a variety of sediments interspersed with sandstone and clay, typical of a fluvial bed, determining the presence of hematite, the iron oxide that gives Mars its characteristic red color.

Findings on Earth that may be key to research on Mars

Azúa-Bustos spoke with the SINC agency about what was discovered in the area.

“(It was located) a variety of microorganisms that are very difficult to classify, which is why we propose the term dark Microbiome, that, similar to the dark matter that is estimated to make up a significant part of the universe, We know it’s there, but it still resists being identified.”

In the area they also found a variety of biosignatures, substances that can indicate the presence of life in a place, to the detection limit of instruments that can be found in a research laboratory.

“The remarkable thing”, Azúa-Bustos emphasizes in the SINC note, “was that by using a variety of instruments that are on, or are about to be sent to Mars, and depending on the biosignature that was sought, several of them could hardly detect them, or simply were not able to do so.

Mars is a determining target in the NASA Artemis Program, which not only seeks to establish a base on the Moon, but also to do so in the future on the red planet. At present, Martian exploration continues to advance at a slow but steady pace, with the presence of the Perseverance rover and the Ingenuity helicopter on site.

The researcher Azúa-Bustos points out that the findings in Piedra Roja “They underscore the importance of bringing samples from Mars to Earth, like the ones Perseverance is now collecting.”