A news release from the European Association of Geochemistry discusses new research that suggests life started on the Red Planet. Although this is not a new theory by any stretch of the imagination, this research supports the theory that we may all be Martians.

According to Professor Steven Benner from The Westheimer Institute for Science and Technology in the USA, who presented his findings last week at the annual Goldschmidt conference, an oxidized mineral form of the element molybdenum, which may have been key to the origin of life, could only have been obtainable on the surface of the Red Planet and not on Earth.

“In addition,” argued Benner, “recent studies show that these conditions, suitable for the origin of life, may still exist on Mars.”

If these conditions still exist on the Red Planet, it’s up to NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover to find them and provide scientists with enough information to determine what was taking place on ancient Mars.

“It’s only when molybdenum becomes highly oxidized that it is able to influence how early life formed,” added Benner. “This form of molybdenum couldn’t have been available on Earth at the time life first began, because three billion years ago the surface of the Earth had very little oxygen, but Mars did. It’s yet another piece of evidence which makes it more likely life came to Earth on a Martian meteorite, rather than starting on this planet.”

Benner’s research takes into consideration two of the puzzles which make it hard for scientists to figure out exactly how life could have begun on Earth. The first contradiction is known as the “tar paradox.” If you add energy to organic molecules and leave them to themselves, they turn into something akin to tar, oil or asphalt.

“Certain elements seem able to control the propensity of organic materials to turn into tar, particularly boron and molybdenum, so we believe that minerals containing both were fundamental to life first starting,” noted Benner. “Analysis of a Martian meteorite recently showed that there was boron on Mars; we now believe that the oxidized form of molybdenum was there too.”

The second contradiction is that life would have have found it difficult to begin on ancient Earth because it was probably completely covered by water. This would be a major obstacle to the formation of life because water is corrosive to RNA, which scientists think was the first genetic molecule to develop. Also, the magnitude of water on early Earth would have stopped adequate concentrations of boron from forming, as it’s currently only known to exist in extremely dry place like California’s Death Valley.

“The evidence seems to be building that we are actually all Martians; that life started on Mars and came to Earth on a rock,” said Benner. “It’s lucky that we ended up here nevertheless, as certainly Earth has been the better of the two planets for sustaining life. If our hypothetical Martian ancestors had remained on Mars, there might not have been a story to tell.”

What do you think of the study’s findings? Are we all Martians? Share your thoughts in the comments section.