Mar 7, 2026 06:41 PM
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/...y-suggests
EXCERPTS: A remarkably hardy bacterium can survive pressures similar to those generated when asteroid impacts blast debris off Mars, a new study has found, suggesting that microbes could endure interplanetary journeys and potentially seed life on other worlds, including Earth.
The findings, published earlier this week in the journal PNAS Nexus, may prompt scientists to reconsider where life could exist across the solar system and could lead to a reassessment of "planetary protection" rules designed to prevent contamination between worlds.
[...] "We continuously redefine the limits of life," Madhan Tirumalai, a microbiologist at the University of Houston who was not involved with the new study, told The New York Times. "This paper is another example."
As the pressure increased, the researchers also detected heightened activity in genes responsible for repairing DNA and maintaining cell membranes... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: A remarkably hardy bacterium can survive pressures similar to those generated when asteroid impacts blast debris off Mars, a new study has found, suggesting that microbes could endure interplanetary journeys and potentially seed life on other worlds, including Earth.
The findings, published earlier this week in the journal PNAS Nexus, may prompt scientists to reconsider where life could exist across the solar system and could lead to a reassessment of "planetary protection" rules designed to prevent contamination between worlds.
[...] "We continuously redefine the limits of life," Madhan Tirumalai, a microbiologist at the University of Houston who was not involved with the new study, told The New York Times. "This paper is another example."
As the pressure increased, the researchers also detected heightened activity in genes responsible for repairing DNA and maintaining cell membranes... (MORE - missing details)