The RNA World on Mars

In the past ten years, a proliferation of information about the Martian environment has resulted from a range of missions, particularly the Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity. Recent results have demonstrated that the Martian surface bears resemblance in many ways to that of Earth, with several key differences, such as the presence of oxychlorine species and the absence of a continuous source of liquid surface water. Recently, Benner, Stephenson, Freeland, and others invoked the availability of borates on the Martian surface as evidence for the possibility that Mars was a suitable environment for an” RNA world.” Here we report our investigations of the behavior of nucleic acids in the presence of a range of simulated Martian environments. We further examine the consequences of such environments for the possibility of an RNA world–past or present-on Mars.