Is there life on Mars? That is a question that has been asked countless times. Unfortunately, up to this point, it hasn’t been a simple question to answer. In addition to figuring out exactly what would classify as life on Mars, scientists have a hard time analyzing any samples that are collected to determine if life is present or not.

When looking for life on the red planet, scientists today really have two options. Collect samples from Mars and send it back to Earth for a detailed analysis, which hasn’t yet even happened. Or, collect samples and have a rover or other machine on the planet perform the analysis and communicate the results back to Earth.

Both of these present some major obstacles. Regardless of which option is used, however, one major hurdle is being able to look through the collected materials to separate potential life (or evidence of former life) from dirt and other materials on the surface.

A paper that has been published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology may have a fairly simple method that can dramatically improve the ability to detect life in this type of extreme environment.

The paper looked at ways to separate materials, including extracellular genetic material (eDNA) from intracellular genetic material (iDNA), which is still living.

The process was developed for looking for life in the Atacama Desert, which is one of the most extreme areas on Earth. It has virtually no water and extremely little life.

Finding a way to isolate the living DNA is important for locating life. The solution that they came up with was to take a sample collection, put into a tube with cold liquid, shake it up, and then remove the dirty liquid. Repeat this process four times. Once done, they found that virtually all of the eDNA was in the liquid portion and almost all of the iDNA was in the remaining sample.

The study lead, Dirk Wagner, is a geomicrobiologist at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam put out a statement in which he said:

“Our findings underscore the significance of utilizing alternative genomic techniques in low-biomass environments where traditional DNA- and RNA-based analyses may not be feasible. The results demonstrate the viability of the proposed study framework and show that specialized microorganisms are important in initial soil formation processes, including microbial-driven mineral weathering, as well as the fixation of carbon and nitrogen.”

This is a process that could be replicated on Mars without too much trouble. Having this proven method available will make it easier for scientists to plan experiments to determine if life really does exist on Mars.

This seems almost too simple to be effective.

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