NASA rover finds DNA building blocks on Mars for first time

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Curiosity rover discovered some components that are generally considered the building blocks of life on Earth.

The American space agency rover on Mars discovered some never-before-seen organic compounds on the Red planet, including nitrogen-bearing molecules with a similar structure to DNA precursors and benzothiophene.

• DNA precursors are raw components needed to build genetic material
• Benzothiophene is a sulphurous chemical that arrives on different planets via meteorites

According to a study published in the journal Nature Communications, the discovery was after conducting a chemical experiment on Mars at a place where water is believed to have existed before, Gale Crater.

According to a geological sciences professor at the University of Florida, Amy Williams, meteorites delivered similar material to both planets: Earth and Mars. It probably provided the building blocks of life on Earth.

She said complex organics preserved in the shallow surface of Mars could be indicators of past life.

NASA sent Curiosity rover to Mars in 2012 in hopes of finding evidence and to investigate whether conditions suitable for microbial life once existed.

Williams said: “If we want to search for evidence of life in the form of preserved organic carbon, this demonstrates it is possible.”