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DNA will be found in space

20.07.2013

If life does exist on Mars, then we can safely assume that it has common roots with the earth. More than 3,5 billion years ago, meteorites swept through the entire solar system and, quite possibly, ricocheted between our two young planets. Meteorites from Mars found in the past decades in Antarctica and in the African desert zones prove this. And it is possible that meteorites ejected from the Earth as a result of meteorite attacks, or during the eruptions of numerous volcanoes, also fell on Mars. This cosmic ping-pong could very well create a common ancestry among the organisms of these planets - regardless of where life originated first - on Mars or on Earth.

The theory of common cosmic roots is so attractive that scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), together with colleagues from Harvard and MGH, decided to create a DNA sequencer - a device that allows you to determine and compare sequences in a DNA molecule with samples. It will be sent to Mars to search for common genetic material among soil and ice samples.

Christopher Carr, a researcher at MIT, and his colleagues conducted a crucial experiment. They exposed the heart of their instrument, a DNA sequencing microchip, to the doses of radiation that would be expected during a real mission to Mars. After this exposure - including bombardment with protons and heavy ions of oxygen and iron - the microchip was able to successfully analyze the E. coli strain and read its genetic sequence. According to Carr, the microchip will be able to live in harsh space conditions for about two years - enough to reach the Red Planet and collect data there for a year and a half. True, over time, the performance of the chip can be reduced - errors will appear.

Whatever life on Mars, past or present, must be extremely resilient to hardship. The atmosphere of Mars is mostly carbon dioxide and is 100 times less dense than Earth's. In addition, it is very cold on Mars - the temperature can drop to minus 90 Celsius. On the other hand, the deep interior of Mars is not much different from the terrestrial, which, as you know, is simply teeming with microbes.

Searching for such subterranean pockets of life on Mars would require a DNA sequencing microarray that can withstand extreme temperature fluctuations and is resistant to cosmic rays.

Beyond Mars, says Christopher Carr, a DNA sequencer could be needed in places like Jupiter's moon Europa, where life could lurk in liquid oceans. Even more promising is the mysterious Enceladus, a moon of Saturn.

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Nanosensor detects pesticides on fruits 10.06.2022

Swedish scientists have developed a tiny sensor that can detect pesticides on fruit in just a few minutes. The technique uses flame-sprayed nanoparticles made of silver to amplify the signal of chemicals.

The new nanosensors use surface-enhanced Raman scattering, or SERS, a powerful detection technique that can magnify the diagnostic signals of biomolecules on metal surfaces by more than a million times. This technology has been used in several areas of research, including chemical and environmental analysis, and for the discovery of biomarkers for various diseases. However, high manufacturing costs and limited lot-to-lot reproducibility have so far prevented wide application in food safety diagnostics.

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