Could Life Have Started on Mars? Planetary Conditions That Assemble and Destroy Protocells
Francesca C. A. Cary,
David W. Deamer,
Bruce F. Damer
et al.
Abstract:Early Mars was likely habitable, but could life actually have started there? While cellular life emerged from prebiotic chemistry through a pre-Darwinian selection process relevant to both Earth and Mars, each planet posed unique selection ‘hurdles’ to this process. We focus on drivers of selection in prebiotic chemistry generic to Earth-like worlds and specific to Mars, such as an iron-rich surface. Iron, calcium, and magnesium cations are abundant in hydrothermal settings on Earth and Mars, a promising envir… Show more
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