Settling Mars has been a scorching subject for years because of its shut proximity and the similarities it shares with Earth like an environment and water. Even NASA has set its sights on sending people to Mars a while within the 2030s.
Nevertheless, spaceflight is dear, and getting individuals to a special world will carry a heavy price ticket. Plus, if we’re in a position to ship individuals to Mars, they’ll want instruments and a spot to remain. Sending such issues over in a spacecraft would solely add to the price (by fairly a bit, too).
So, rather than bring everything from Earth, scientists are exploring a different avenue of developing materials on Mars. New research from the Polytechnic University of Milan in Italy proposes a novel method — grow the materials on Mars itself. Using bacteria.
Building with bacteria
The idea of using found materials on missions to other planets — instead of just bringing everything with you from Earth — is called in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). “Harnessing native supplies is the important thing to unlocking sustainable human presence on Mars,” according to a press release.
The analysis proposes that biomineralization, a course of that permits dwelling organisms to provide minerals, may very well be used to create constructing supplies as soon as individuals get to Mars.
The 2 bacteriums that the paper singles out are Sporosarcina pasteurii and Chroococcidiopsis. By pairing these bacteriums collectively to create a “co-culture,” the researchers suppose it could be doable to create a sort of binding component that may very well be blended in with regolith (rocks and dirt) on the floor Mars.
“Sporosarcina secretes pure polymers that nurture mineral development and strengthen regolith, turning free soil into stable, concrete-like materials,” the spokesperson writes. “We envision this bacterial co-culture blended with Martian regolith as feedstock for 3D printing on Mars.”
Growing crops with bacteria
This process may allow future Mars settlers to grow the building materials they need to survive in the harsh environment. But the researchers envision more uses for the “microbial partnership” beyond Martian construction.
“Chroococcidiopsis, with its ability to produce oxygen, could support not just habitat integrity but also the life-support systems for astronauts,” the spokesperson wrote.
“Over longer timescales, the ammonia produced as a metabolic byproduct of Sporosarcina pasteurii might be used to develop closed-loop agricultural systems and potentially help in Mars’ terraforming efforts,” they wrote.
The paper was printed Dec. 2, 2025 in Frontiers.
