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Swiss Scientists Discover DNA Remains Active After Space Journey and Re-entry

Posted by Soulskill on from the when-you-land-on-a-planet,-you're-landing-on-every-other-planet-it's-been-with dept.

Zothecula writes: It may sound like the first chapter of a Quatermass thriller, but scientists from the University of Zurich have discovered that DNA can survive not only a flight through space, but also re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere and still remain active. The findings are based on suborbital rocket flights and could have considerable impact on questions about the origins of life on Earth and the problems of terrestrial space probes contaminating other planets.

1 of 67 comments (clear)

  1. Radiation? by fullmetal55 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    since it's a suborbital flight, that doesn't say much about deep space. sending it on a trip around the moon would be a better test. at least get out of the Van Allen belts and get into the cosmic radiation, before you can see if it actually does survive a trip through space.