Engineered organisms could theoretically neutralize perchlorates
1 Yesterday 6:30 PM · 1d ago · 1 post · 2 comments · 1 source · development 1 of 3
Sowden noted that scientific literature suggests organisms could be genetically engineered to consume perchlorates and convert them into harmless chemicals, citing examples of toxin-eating microbes discovered in nature.
“Organisms could be tweaked or engineered to convert (ie. eat) perchlorates into harmless chemicals.”
Mike SowdenMike Sowden Bluesky commenter
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In all the grandiose discussion about colonising Mars, I don't see much about how the soil is poisonous to us. This was only discovered in 2008. It contains perchlorates, which are environmental toxins here on Earth. Any human contact with Mars dust? Super-bad news in the long run. 1/
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That's basically *the entire surface of the planet* being poisonous - not just to us, but plant life too. Even if the temperature, pressure, radiation and various other human biology nightmares are solved, this alone will be a super-hard thing to fix: sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 2/
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But as that paper says - not impossible! Organisms could be tweaked or engineered to convert (ie. eat) perchlorates into harmless chemicals. Many toxin eaters exist - like the life recently discovered in fog that eats poisonous formaldehyde: everythingisamazing.substack.com/p/magnalia-0... 3/
All 3 developments of Mars soil toxins complicate colonization dreams →
Bluesky