And robot called Phoenix It was sent to Mars 18 years ago, however, the results of the scientific study did not have until last May 2025. It should be noted that all these tests were carried out with microorganisms resistant to extreme conditions such as those of the red planet itself. This discovery grows the debate on the risks of suffer biological pollution during space exploration.
He study was published in the prestigious science magazine 'Microbiome' And it was a combined work between the research centers of the India y Saudi Arabia next to ‘Jet Propulsion Laboratory’ of the NASA. The researchers isolated up to 53 strains that corresponded to 26 species of bacteria never classified and found.
The most striking fact of this finding was that all are genetically capable of survive environments designed to be totally sterilewith humidity, temperature and air flow conditions that prevent the proliferation of any type of microbe.
Alexandre Rosado, participant in several studies on planetary and researcher protection at the Rey Abdalá University of Science and Technology (Kaust): “Our study sought to understand the risk that extremophiles could be transferred into space missions and what organisms would resist the extreme conditions of space.”
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The resistance of microbes in extreme conditions
Genetic analyzes revealed that these 26 bacteria have genes adapted to the DNA repairan optimal metabolism and also to detoxification of harmful substances. This set of characteristics makes these bacteria resist in environments where most life forms die.
Junia Schultz, a researcher at Kaust and main author of the study, states that these microbial characteristics could be used in biotechnological developments in the future: “The identified genes could be applied in medicine, food preservation and other industrial fields.”
