Research Projects

Life in the Atacama Desert
(Henry Sun)

The hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile is virtually free of rain and, consequently, devoid of life. Soils reportedly contain no recoverable DNA and almost no culturable bacteria. Yet they can, like soils on Mars, decompose added sugar. We try both to recover DNA and to identify Mars-like soil oxidants.

Collaborators include Drs. Duane Moser and Jim Bruckner at DRI and Professor Christos Georgiou at University of Patras of Greece.

This project was funded by the Nevada Space Grant Office.