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Project Research: Successful Development of Effective Microbial Inactivation Techniques for Mars Sample Return

ABC Project Research results are released.

Figure: Fluorescence microscope image showing microbial cells (indicated by white arrows) confined within crystalline grains of calcium carbonate. (Quoted from the University of Tokyo press release)
Key Points of the Announcement:
  • To prove the existence of Martian life, high-sensitivity and high-precision analysis of the returned samples on Earth. However, to prevent the spread of Martian life to Earth, the returned samples need to be sterilized before analysis.
  • They revealed that a treatment confining microbes within crystalline grains of calcium carbonate is a new method that achieves microbial inactivation while enabling high-sensitivity, high-precision analysis.
  • Unlike traditional sterilization methods, this approach minimizes the destruction of biomolecules while rapidly deactivating viral infectivity within one minute. This method is also expected to be used as a cost-effective disinfection method for infection prevention.

(Source: Quoted from the University of Tokyo press release)

For more details, please refer to the University of Tokyo’s press release.

研究ハイライト