Martian Samples, Hazards, And Biosecurity: Between Science And Bioethics

The fact that life-pastor present-has not been detected on Mars does not mean that it does not exist there. Indeed, the article is quite precise in highlighting that “a special follow-on concern to the case of forward contamination is that of round-trip contamination, the “discovery” of living organisms within or on a vehicle returning from Mars”.

However, in the opinion of the authors of this correspondence, it would be essential to explicitly comment on the return of the samples collected by the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover contains the risk of transporting previously unidentified microorganisms to the Earth’s surface.

Therefore, MSR planning must seriously consider this possibility, for at least two reasons: scientific, given the gaps in knowledge and the consequent uncertainty about the potential existence of Martian life forms; and bioethics when considering the applicability of the ethical principles of precaution — due to current doubts-and protection-when recognizing human responsibilities regarding potential terrestrial contamination by nonindigenous microorganisms.

The scientific debate on the inadvertent transfer of poten-tial microbial forms from Mars to Earth is essential, consid-ering the risks and biosafety, as the consequences could be harmful, but it is recommended that fundamental bio ethical aspects are always spotlighted in articles that pro-pose to discuss the issue.

Martian samples, hazards, and biosecurity: Between science and bioethics, PNAS via PubMed (open access)

Astrobiology