NASA taps trio of companies to build the next generation of lunar rover
At $4.6 billion, this Moon malarkey is getting expensive
Science
4 Apr 2024 | 13
Um, nope
"And not just any funguses, but some species capable of producing amino acids that are usually considered to be extra-terrestrial when found in meteorites."
Not stated.
"The presence of fungi in NASA curation facilities is particularly interesting since some fungal species are able to produce amino acids like Aib (α-aminoisobutryic acid) and Iva (Isovaline) that are often considered to be extra-terrestrial when identified in meteorites."
That is, there are fungal species on earth that can produce weird amino acids normally thought only produced extra-terrestrially. A very general statement.
"Most of the identified fungal isolates belonged to the genus Penecillium. At least one member of this genus has been able to produce Aib in the lab."
I've seen people dressed in purple do really weird things, and you're wearing purple, so...
"The fungi cultivated from the laminar flow bench in this study are currently being analyzed for the presence and enantiomeric ratios of a broad suite of amino acids commonly found in meteorites, including Aib and Iva, to determine whether they could be possible sources of these compounds."
In other words, we have not yet seen extra-terrestrial-like amino acids from the fungi found. They may find such, and that is correctly disturbing and worth consideration if never imagined possible by previous researchers.
This was a "hey, look at this!" first note paper. Consider this indication of hurriedness:
<quote>
"Half of the sample was set aside to determine free amino acids content, whereas the other have was acid vapor hydrolyzed (6N HCl) for 3 hours at 150 °C to measure total amino acids (free and protein-bound)."
</quote>
To have and half not, right?
Oh well, count down to "Extra-terrestrial fungi from meteorites hidden in NASA labs for 20 years!" 5, 4, 3, ...
Biting the hand that feeds IT
