{"id":313592,"date":"2026-03-05T03:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T03:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/313592\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T03:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T03:19:10","slug":"extremophile-bacteria-may-hitch-rides-on-asteroid-fragments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/313592\/","title":{"rendered":"Extremophile Bacteria May Hitch Rides on Asteroid Fragments"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier work has demonstrated that an extremophile bacterium species called Deinococcus radiodurans<\/a> can survive the radiation<\/a>, cold, and desiccation associated with interplanetary transport. New research shows that Deinococcus radiodurans has outstanding ability to survive the extreme transient pressures associated with impact-induced ejection from Mars. Thus, it is possible for such life to be transported between planets in the Solar System as a result of major asteroid impacts.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

This is an artist\u2019s impression of an asteroid. Image credit: Mark A. Garlick, Space-art.co.uk \/ University of Warwick \/ University of Cambridge.<\/p>\n

Impact craters cover the surfaces of most bodies in the Solar System. The Moon and Mars are among the most cratered celestial bodies.<\/p>\n

Scientists know asteroid strikes can launch material across space; and Martian meteorites have been found on Earth.<\/p>\n

However, they have long wondered if life forms could also be launched from an asteroid impact.<\/p>\n

Tucked inside ejected debris, they might land on another planet \u2014 a theory called the lithopanspermia hypothesis.<\/p>\n

In the new research, Johns Hopkins University researcher Kaliat (K.T.) Ramesh and colleagues simulated the conditions under which a microbe might be hurled into space by the force of an impact.<\/p>\n

They subjected Deinococcus radiodurans to pressures of up to 3 GPa (30,000 times atmospheric pressure) by putting the cells between two steel plates and then hitting that steel sandwich with a third plate.<\/p>\n

They were able to detect biological stress in the bacteria by reading out which genes were expressed at varying pressures.<\/p>\n

Samples exposed to 2.4 GPa began to show ruptured membranes, but the structure of the bacterium\u2019s cell envelope help explain the survival of 60% of microbes.<\/p>\n

Transcription profiles suggest that the bacteria prioritized the repair of cellular damage in the aftermath of the impact.<\/p>\n

\"Deinococcus<\/p>\n

Deinococcus radiodurans. Image credit: USU \/ Michael Daly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not yet know if there is life on Mars, but if there is, it is likely to have similar abilities,\u201d Professor Ramesh said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife might actually survive being ejected from one planet and moving to another.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a really big deal that changes the way you think about the question of how life begins and how life began on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have shown that it is possible for life to survive large-scale impact and ejection,\u201d said Dr. Lily Zhao, also from Johns Hopkins University.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat that means is that life can potentially move between planets. Maybe we\u2019re Martians!\u201d<\/p>\n

The results<\/a> were published this week in the journal PNAS Nexus.<\/p>\n

_____<\/p>\n

Lily Zhao et al. 2026. Extremophile survives the transient pressures associated with impact-induced ejection from Mars. PNAS Nexus 5 (3): pgag018; doi: 10.1093\/pnasnexus\/pgag018<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Earlier work has demonstrated that an extremophile bacterium species called Deinococcus radiodurans can survive the radiation, cold, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313593,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[7871,2865,170381,170382,170383,6248,20942,111,139,69,170384,19794,147,3145],"class_list":{"0":"post-313592","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-asteroid","9":"tag-bacteria","10":"tag-deinococcus","11":"tag-deinococcus-radiodurans","12":"tag-lithopanspermia","13":"tag-mars","14":"tag-meteorite","15":"tag-new-zealand","16":"tag-newzealand","17":"tag-nz","18":"tag-panspermia","19":"tag-planet","20":"tag-science","21":"tag-solar-system"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}