Scientists Think Wild Idea for Making Oxygen on Mars

Jakarta – Scientists are now looking for ways to create oxygen on Earth's neighboring planet, Mars.

Scientists have discovered that desert-dwelling bacteria that feed on sunlight, absorb carbon dioxide and excrete oxygen could be incorporated into paint that complements the air in habitats on Mars. 

It's called Chroococcidipsis cubana, and scientists have developed a biocating that emits measurable amounts of exygen on a daily basis while reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air around it. 

This has implications, not just for space travel but at home on Earth, too, according to a team led by microbiologist Simone Krings of the University of Surrey in the United KIngdom. 

"With the increase in greenhouse gasses, particularly CO2, in the atmosphere and concerns about water shortages due to rising global temperatures, we need innovative, environmentally friendly, and sustainable materials," the bacteriologist Suzie Hingley-Wilson of the University of Surrey explained. 

"Mechanically robust, ready-to-use biocoatings, or 'living paints,' could help meet these challenges by reducing water consumption in typically water-intensive bioreactor-based processes,"

Chroococcidiopsis is a weird little genus of beasties. If there's a place on Earth you think no life could possibly find purchase, you're likely to find a species of this bacterium there. 

It harnesses a strange kind of photosynthesis that can make the most of extremely low-light conditions, with a back-up survival mechanism for even darker places. It's been found in the pitch blackness of ultra-deep caves, and in Earth's lower crust beneath the ocean floor.

Moreover, Chroococcidiopsis cubana sometimes lives in deserts, in conditions not dissimilar to those on Mars. And, like other cyanobacteria, its metabolism has some desirable properties. 

The bacterium takes in CO2, which it fixes to transform via photosynthesis into organic compounds, releasing oxygen as part of the process.

Krings and her team wanted to develop a biocoating that harnesses these properties. These are coatings, like paint, into which living bacteria are incorporated in layers. 

They have to be durable, without containing ingredients that could harm the bacteria therein.