Líffræðifélag Íslands
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2015

Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster V91

MASE - Mars Analogues for Space Exploration (http://www.mase-eu.org)

"Viggó Þór Marteinsson (1) , Pauline Vannier (1) and the MASE team: C.S. Cockell (UK), M. Moissl-Eichinger, A. Perras (A); P. Schwendner (UK); P. Rettberg, K. Beblo-Vranesevic, M. Bohmeier, E. Rabbow (G); F. Westall, F. Gaboyer, (F); F. Gomez, R. Amils, L. Garcia (ES); P. Ehrenfreund, E.P. Monaghan (NL) and N. Walter (F)"

1 Matis ohf. Food safety, Environment and Genetics. Vinlandsleid 12, 113 Reykjavik, Iceland

Kynnir / Presenter: Viggó Þór Marteinsson

Tengiliður / Corresponding author: Viggó Þór Marteinsson (viggo@matis.is)

"Is life out there? In order to assess the habitability of Mars, which is (or has been) the most Earth-like planet in our Solar System, the first step is to investigate microorganisms thriving in terrestrial biotops with Mars similar conditions (0.13% O2 in the atmosphere, low nutrients, low temperatures, high salinity and oxidising compounds, acidity) and comparable multi-stresses. The MASE (Mars analogues for space exploration) consortium is a team of researchers from all over Europe, combining a broad spectrum of interdisciplinary expertise. Five major sampling sites (dedicated campaigns: cold sulfur springs in Germany, potash mine in England, cold acidic lake in Iceland; samples already available: Rio Tinto in Spain, permafrost samples from Svaldbard) were chosen with the major goal to cultivate and characterize novel anaerobic microorganisms which are specifically adapted to harsh conditions."