Scientists at the University of Bremen in Germany have found microorganisms that can grow and develop in the Martian atmosphere. According to the researchers, based on cyanobacteria or blue-green algae, life support systems can be created for people who will live on the surface of Mars. This is reported in an article published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology.
Experts have shown that cyanobacteria can sustain life by using the gases of the Martian atmosphere as a source of carbon and oxygen, despite the low pressure. Blue-green algae multiplied in water with a suspension of Martian dust, which makes it possible to use them to feed other living organisms. In addition, cyanobacteria produce oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis.
Researchers have developed an Atmos bioreactor that maintains atmospheric pressure at 10 percent of Earth’s pressure and nitrogen and carbon dioxide concentrations of 96 and 4 percent, respectively. These conditions are close to Martian, but differ from them: atmospheric pressure is a percentage of the earth’s, and the proportion of carbon dioxide is 95 percent. The bioreactor was also supplemented with water and a mineral mixture that mimics the Martian regolith.
For the experiment, the team chose a species of nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria Anabaena sp. PCC 7938, which preliminary tests have shown is most likely to thrive under these conditions. Although the bacteria grew better on nutrient media, the researchers also observed growth on the Martian regolith. Then the scientists dried the culture of microorganisms and used it as a substrate for growing E. coli. This proves that cyanobacteria on Mars can be used to feed crops, which, in turn, are suitable for the synthesis of nutrients, including drugs.