Scientists Have Grown Microbes on Actual Rock Bits From Mars 23 FEBRUARY 2021 Rock from Mars is a rare and precious resource here on Earth. So far, the only samples we have are chunks of meteorite, dislodged from the red planet and travelling through the Solar System until they smack into Earth.
A small piece of this invaluable stuff has just been put to a fascinating use: Scientists ground up a small piece of the Martian Black Beauty meteorite, and used it to grow extremophile microbes. This not only demonstrates that life could actually exist in real Martian conditions, it provides astrobiologists with new biosignatures they could use to look for signs of ancient life in the crust of Mars.