Study may help humans colonise Mars and hunt for alien life

This might sound like science fiction, but space agencies and private companies around the world are actively trying to turn this aspiration into reality in the not-too-distant future. Scientists at ANU have contributed to an international study that will potentially help humans to colonise Mars and find life on other planets. The study on an organism that survives in inhospitable and low-light conditions could dramatically improve our understanding of photosynthesis, the process by which plants and other organisms make and store energy from light and produce oxygen. ANU worked with research institutions in Italy, France and the United Kingdom to support London's Imperial College, which led the study. Cyanobacteria are one of the largest groups of bacteria on Earth, where they have existed for more than 2.5 billion years. ANU Emeritus Professor Elmars Krausz said low-light adapted cyanobacteria could be used to colonise Mars and other planets, to produce oxygen and create a biosphere. "This might sound like science fiction, but space agencies and private companies around the world are actively trying to turn this aspiration into reality in the not-too-distant future," said Professor Krausz, a co-author on the Science paper from the ANU Research School of Chemistry.