Re:Will we kill or contaminate microbial life on Mars?
by John23832 on Thursday October 20, 2016 @10:54AM
(#12752792)
> Given what we know about the fundamental laws of chemistry, it's entirely possible that the formation of life as we know it may be the only real way life can form.
Our form of life could be the only kind possible, but that's nowhere near proven as fact.
I agree with the rest of your statement though.
Re:Will we kill or contaminate microbial life on Mars?
by wwggggoi on Thursday October 20, 2016 @02:07PM
(#12754670)
And since life probably formed (in the same way, in deep-sea vents) on Mars and Earth in parallel, and was later exchanged via impacts, life on Earth is probably partially Martian anyway
But overall I agree with you. There are likely to be many differences, and even if they were exactly like Earth microbes the chances of them bothering us or us bothering them would be just as unlikely as a chimpanzee catching a cold from an iguana.
I think it much more likely that they could be biological irritants or even toxins, if indeed they affect us at all.
I think the main concern is that we'd want to study them as isolated lifeforms, and any Earth proteins or other contaminants would greatly hinder such studies. Even if we could clearly separate out the contaminants, we couldn't be certain if the Martian organisms had reacted to the Earth substances in some way.