There is a rather intriguing BBC documentary "Do we really need the moon?" about the topic on YouTube. The argument being made was that the moon propelled the chemical clockworks to develop life in a time when the moon was much closer, hence its tidal forces much stronger. To me that would mean that, Mars has, for a lack of such history, a weaker case for being dubbed the origin of life, unless research came across really strong evidence. Like, it would have to be from a time before Earth cooled down enough to even remotely harbor life.