New Evidence for Ancient Life on Mars: Meteorite Holds 'Cell-Like Structure'

There may be evidence for past life on Mars. A Martian meteorite fragment that's about 1.3 billion years old may show that it was once possible that life existed on the Red Planet.

What's interesting is that the meteorite shows that favorable environmental conditions once existed. A "cell-like" structure was found embedded deep within the meteorite and likely once held water. This unusual feature, in particular, could be evidence of ancient life.

In order to learn a bit more about this structure, the researchers imaged it in unprecedented detail with high resolution imaging.

"In many ways it resembled a fossilized biological cell from Earth but it was intriguing because it was undoubtedly from Mars," said Ian Lyon, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Our research found that it probably wasn't a cell but that it did once hold water, water that had been heated, probably as a result of an asteroid impact."

So what does this mean? It's likely that Mars held all of the conditions in the past that would have been favorable to life. More specifically, the findings add to a growing body of evidence that suggest large asteroids once hit Mars and produced long-lasting hydrothermal fields that could sustain life.

"We have been able to show the setting is there to provide life," said Lyon. "It's not too cold, it's not too harsh. Life as we know it, in the form of bacteria, for example, could be there, although we haven't found it yet. It's about piecing together the case for life on Mars-it may have existed and in some form could exist still."

Currently, the researchers are investigating new secondary materials in this meteorite in order to search for possible bio signatures which could provide evidence of either past or present life on the Red Planet.

"Before we return samples from Mars, we much examine them further, but in more delicate ways," said Lyon. "We must carefully search for further evidence."

The findings are published in the journal Astrobiology.