Mars Meteorite Holds Building Block of Life: Clues in Boron-Rich Clay

A meteorite from Mars may hold one of the building blocks of life. Researchers have examined a piece of space rock that they recovered from Antarctica and discovered that it holds high concentrations of boron, an element that when present in its oxidized form may have played a key role in the formation of RNA.

The meteorite was first discovered during a 2009-2010 field mission, and scientists could tell almost right away that it was Martian in origin. The minerals it contained as well as its chemical composition clearly showed that it was from the Red Planet.

In order to further study this rock from Mars, the researchers used an ion microprobe in order to analyze the veins of Martian clay in the meteorite. After they ruled out possible contamination from Earth, they found boron abundances in the clays that were over ten times higher than in any previously measure meteorite.

"Borates may have been important for the origin of life on Earth because they can stabilize ribose, a crucial component of RNA," said James Stephenson, one of the researchers, in a news release. "In early life, RNA is thought to have been the informational precursor to DNA."

On Earth, borate-enriched salt, sediment and clay deposits are relatively common. Yet similar deposits had never been seen before on any other planet or extraterrestrial body. This newest research, though, seems to show that as life was beginning to emerge on Earth, borate could have also been concentrated in deposits on Mars.

"Earth and Mars used to have much more in common than they do today," said Lydia Hallis, a cosmochemist, in a news release. "Over time, Mars has lost a lot of its atmosphere and surface water, but ancient meteorites preserve delicate clays from wetter periods in Mar's history."

The findings could reveal a bit more about Mars and our own planet in consequence. It could also show scientists how Earth developed life while the Red Planet remained barren.

The findings are published in the journal PLOS One.