A team of Indian scientists has found that baker’s yeast can withstand harsh, Mars-like conditions involving intense shock waves and toxic perchlorate salts.

Baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae)—best known for its role in baking, brewing, and biotechnology—may now also hold clues to how life could survive on other planets. In a new study, researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad discovered that this common microorganism can endure the kinds of stresses found on Mars.

Figure 1. Mars.

To test its limits, the team exposed yeast cells to shock waves similar to those produced by meteorite impacts on the Martian surface, as well as to perchlorate salts—highly toxic compounds detected in Martian soil. Using the High-Intensity Shock Tube for Astrochemistry (HISTA), developed in Balamurugan Sivaraman’s PRL lab, they created shock waves traveling at Mach 5.6 and treated the yeast with 100 mM sodium perchlorate, both separately and together. Figure 1 shows Mars.

“One of the biggest challenges was setting up the HISTA system to expose live yeast cells to shock waves—something never done before—and then recovering them without contamination,” said lead author Riya Dhage, a project assistant in the lab of IISc biochemist Purusharth I. Rajyaguru.

A Resilient Survival Strategy

Surprisingly, the yeast survived both the shock and chemical stress, though their growth slowed. The researchers traced this resilience to the formation of ribonucleoprotein (RNP) condensates—tiny, membrane-less compartments that protect and reorganize RNA under stress [1]. Shock waves triggered two kinds of RNPs—stress granules and P-bodies—while perchlorate exposure led mainly to P-body formation. Mutant yeast unable to form these structures showed far lower survival rates.

This finding suggests that RNP condensates could serve as biomarkers for cellular stress in extraterrestrial environments. “What’s remarkable about this study is how it combines shock-wave physics, astrochemistry, and molecular cell biology to explore how life might adapt to Mars-like extremes,” said Dhage.

According to Rajyaguru, the results highlight baker’s yeast as a valuable model organism for astrobiology research in India. Understanding how cells reorganize RNA and proteins under mechanical and chemical stress could reveal key principles of survival beyond Earth—and even guide future experiments in space.

“We were amazed to see yeast enduring the kinds of extreme conditions we mimicked from Mars,” said Rajyaguru. “Our findings could inspire future missions to include yeast as a test organism for studying life’s resilience in space.”

Reference:

1. https://scitechdaily.com/this-common-organism-could-survive-on-mars/

Cite this article:

Keerthana S (2025), This Simple Earth Organism Might Be Able to Live on Mars, AnaTechMaz, pp.566