An international group of scientists conducted an experiment and concluded that some microorganisms that are pathogenic to humans, including those that cause nosocomial infections and pneumonia, can survive in Martian conditions.

Scientists have long feared that humans, once arriving on Mars, would bring bacteria to the planet that would remain and survive there. It is not known how this will threaten Earth in the future, especially when meteors fly in from Mars. Additionally, the lack of a sterile environment on the Red Planet will make the search for possible life on Mars extremely difficult. Despite stringent cleaning and decontamination protocols, the risk of microorganisms on Earth reaching a neighboring planet remains.

Therefore, scientists are interested in the question of to what extent terrestrial bacteria can survive under Martian conditions. In this sense, it is usually caused by extremely high or low temperature, pressure, acidity, oxygen concentrations, etc. They work on extremophiles, which are living things (usually microorganisms) that can withstand extreme temperatures and survive especially in harsh environmental conditions.

Scientists from the German Aerospace Center (Germany) and Radboud University Medical Center (Netherlands) studied the resistance of bacteria pathogenic to humans. Burkholderia cepacia, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa And Serratia marcescens. These microorganisms are unpretentious and cause various infectious diseases.

Burkholderia cepacia For example, it can cause pneumonia in people with weakened immunity. Klebsiella pneumoniae In addition to lung inflammation, it contributes to the development of sepsis, urinary tract infection, bacteremia (presence of microorganisms in the blood), meningitis and liver abscesses. Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes nosocomial infections (as well as other microorganisms listed above). Serratia marcescens). All these microbes usually live on or inside our body, there are many of them in the environment, but for a person with normal immunity they usually do not pose any threat.

The researchers placed colonies of these bacteria in an environment that mimics conditions on Mars, soil similar to the Red Planet’s regolith. They then simulated a similar Martian atmosphere, pressure and temperature. The soils of Mars are saturated with perchlorates, which are toxic to most terrestrial organisms. Additionally, scientists exposed microbes to destructive ultraviolet light and “deprived” them of water.

The experiment lasted 21 days. His conclusion was very interesting: Three types of bacteria not only survived such a violent massacre, but even proliferated. The study was published in the journal Astrobiology.

So far, scientists are trying to understand what exactly helps microorganisms feel quite comfortable in the Martian regolith. It is possible for small water droplets to remain in microcracks. Further studies are needed to clarify the results.