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The famous rock, ALH 84001, that fell from space thousands of
years ago onto a dry Antarctic region known as Allan Hills, and
the Nakhla meteorite that fell in Egypt in 1911, both contain what
some experts believe may be fossilised microbes from Mars
or somewhere else.
These meteorites are just two among what are probably
millions of such meteorites that have come from other planets and
have fallen on Earth at various times throughout the ages,
dropping into the sea or into jungles or in other terrain where
there is little likelihood of anyone finding them.
But the task of the planetary‑life hunter is soon
going to become immeasurably more difficult. According to the
great futurist Freeman Dyson, while the twentieth century was the
century of physics, the twenty‑first will be the century of
biology.
No longer, he believes, will our energies go into building
ever more ingenious computer software but rather into creating new
forms of life. He foresees do‑it‑yourself genetic
engineering kits for gardeners to breed new varieties of roses and
orchids, pet lovers to create new breeds of cats and dogs, and for
gourmets to design tastier chicken. (I suppose also that
terrorists will want to create smallpox bacilli in their
basements, but every technology has its risks.)
Already, in the United States, the front windows of many
pet shops display tanks full of genetically modified fish shining
in many brilliant colours; and for hobbyists, artists and traders
there will be unlimited opportunities for fun and profit. And
these new techniques will spread to industry. We can perhaps
imagine the time when everyday items such as beds and sofas and
even roads and houses will be grown rather than manufactured.
But by far the most important use of the new biotechnology
will be to create plant life on other planets. We are constantly
being told that the other planets of the Solar System are
inhospitable to human life. Well, so they are, but that is no
reason why they should always remains so.
For example, Mars and some of the moons of Jupiter and
Saturn are profoundly beautiful places, as many a photograph and
space artist has reminded us. But they are also horribly cold and
without air.
However, new plants and microbes and animals can surely be
adapted to live on such worlds and be able to survive the low
level of sunlight, help to generate breathable air and make the
surface warm. Perhaps no one will ever know whether there ever was
indigenous life on Mars, and perhaps not everyone will care.
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