Sniff of life outside earth

 The recent discovery of new micro-organisms in the earth's upper stratosphere by Indian scientists has focussed attention on the possible existence of extraterrestrial life forms, astrophysicist Jayant V. Narlikar has said on Thursday. Addressing a function organised by the Kerala State Science and Technology Museum (KSSTM) and the University of Kerala in connection with the International Year of Astronomy 2009, he said three new species of bacteria, which are not found on the Earth and which are highly resistant to ultra-violet radiation, had been discovered in the upper stratosphere by Indian scientists under a research project involving the Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), ISRO, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB). The experiment, he explained, was conducted using a balloon carrying a scientific payload that collected air samples from different heights in the earth's atmosphere. On analysing the samples, scientists at the CCMB, Hyderabad, and the National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune, detected 12 bacterial and six fungal colonies. Three of the bacterial colonies comprised totally new species and had significantly higher UV resistance compared to their counterparts known to scientists. The samples shared with Cardiff University and Sheffield University also returned the same results. "While the study does not conclusively establish the extraterrestrial origin of micro-organisms, it does provide encouragement to continue the quest," said Mr. Narlikar, who was the principal investigator of the project. Mr. Narlikar said the samples collected under the project would be subjected to nuclear isotope analysis to ascertain their origin outside the earth. "That will be our next attempt," he said."Millimetre wavelength astronomy has revealed the existence of molecules in outer space. Comets are considered to be carriers of micro-organisms in frozen state. These micro-organisms are released when the comets' tails brush the earth's atmosphere," he explained.

The Hindu, 3rd April 2009