A Canadian microbiologist has helped create a tool that could one day detect life on Mars or the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.
McGill Universityâs Lyle Whyte told CTVâs 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 oneâs hand and can be used to detect nucleic acids like DNA and RNA.
âThatâs very important,â Lyle said. âIf you find nucleic acids in any kind of soil or sediments or ice, letâs say on (Jupiterâs moon) Europa, this is a very strong indication that youâve just discovered life on another world.â
Lyle said researchers envision loading the tool on a lander sent to Mars, Europa or Saturnâs Enceladus and taking a sample of soil or ice.
If researchers detect DNA, they could sequence it and potentially learn âa little bit about the life that might exist there.â
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 itâs much colder there, â 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.