In the study conducted by scientists from the University of Colorado in the USA, it was stated that for the first time on the earth’s surface, soils that did not contain life at all were detected.
In the study conducted in Antarctica, it was reported that no living DNA was detected in soil samples collected in a region in the mountains in the interior of the continent, and this was the first time in the world.
SOIL SAMPLES COLLECTED IN JANUARY 2018
NTVSoil samples were collected during an expedition to a remote part of the Transantarctic mountains in January 2018, in the study funded by the US National Science Foundation.
The researchers stated that they carried out their studies without thinking about the absence of living specimens even in the most remote corners of the Transantarctic mountains. No signs of living organisms were found in the collected samples.
204 SAMPLES TESTED
It was reported that 204 samples were tested while a method called polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect microbial DNA samples in the collected samples.
Stating that they detected a large amount of DNA in all of the samples taken from cold regions, the researchers stated that no signs of life were found in 20 percent of the samples taken from higher altitudes.
“SAMPLES TAKEN DO NOT CONTAIN ANY MICROBIAL LIFE”
Microbial ecologist Noah Fierer, who studies soils at the University of Colorado, “There has always been the assumption that microbes are resilient, that they can live anywhere. The samples taken do not contain any microbial life.” he said.
It was underlined that the study is similar to research on the surface of Mars. It was stated that the study carried out in a region with abundant caustic and reactive salts on the surface of Mars could lead to research in the coming years.
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