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A possible biogenic origin for hydrogen peroxide on Mars: the Viking results reinterpreted

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2007

Joop M. Houtkooper  and
Dirk Schulze-Makuch
Joop M. Houtkooper
Affiliation:
Center for Psychobiology and Behavioral Medicine, Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Strasse 10F, D-35394 Giessen, Germany e-mail: joophoutkooper@gmail.com
Dirk Schulze-Makuch
Affiliation:
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA e-mail: dirksm@wsu.edu
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Abstract

The adaptability of extremophiles on Earth raises the question of what strategies putative life might have used to adapt to the present conditions on Mars. Here, we hypothesize that organisms might utilize a water–hydrogen peroxide (H2O–H2O2) mixture rather than water as an intracellular liquid. This adaptation would have the particular advantages in the Martian environment of providing a low freezing point, a source of oxygen and hygroscopicity. The findings by the Viking experiments are reinterpreted in light of this hypothesis. Our conclusion is that the hitherto mysterious oxidant in the Martian soil, which evolves oxygen when humidified, might be H2O2 of biological origin. This interpretation has consequences for site selection for future missions to search for life on Mars.

Keywords

Marsextremophilehydrogen peroxideH2O2–H2O hypothesisPhoenixoxidanthyperhydrationViking

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , April 2007 , pp. 147 - 152
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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