A Canadian microbiologist has helped create a tool that could one day detect life on Mars or the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.
McGill University鈥檚 Lyle Whyte told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning on Wednesday that the bio-signature detection device has already been tested in the Canadian Arctic with great success.
The device, which Lyle showed off on the show, fits in the palm of one鈥檚 hand and can be used to detect nucleic acids like DNA and RNA.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 very important,鈥� Lyle said. 鈥淚f you find nucleic acids in any kind of soil or sediments or ice, let鈥檚 say on (Jupiter鈥檚 moon) Europa, this is a very strong indication that you鈥檝e just discovered life on another world.鈥�
Lyle said researchers envision loading the tool on a lander sent to Mars, Europa or Saturn鈥檚 Enceladus and taking a sample of soil or ice.
If researchers detect DNA, they could sequence it and potentially learn 鈥渁 little bit about the life that might exist there.鈥�
Lyle says the device was tested last at the McGill Arctic Research Station, about 900 km south of the North Pole, where the environment is similar to that on Mars.
Mars is about 50 per cent farther from the Sun than Earth, so it鈥檚 much colder there, 鈥� 63 C on average versus on average versus 15 C on Earth,
NASA has a list of past and future Mars missions listed on its website.
