ISRO discovers alien bacteria in upper atmosphere

The three bacteria species have been named Bacillus Isronensis, Janibacter Hoylei & Bacillus Aryabhatta.

Indian Space Research Organisation claims that they have discovered three new species of bacteria – which are possibly of alien origin – in the upper layer of the stratosphere. These bacteria species are arguably said to be alien since they are not found on earth and are said to be highly resistive to ultra-violet rays.

ISRO discovers alien bacteria

The three bacteria species have also been named. The first one is Janibacter Hoylei, after the astrophysicist Fred Hoyle who promoted the theory that life evolved around space.

The second species is named Bacillus Isronensis to stress on ISRO’s contribution in the discovery; and the third is christened Bacillus Aryabhata after the ancient Indian astronomer.

Altogether, 12 bacterial and fungal colonies were detected, said ISRO and nine of them turned out to be of terrestrial origin.

It has long been theorised that life arrived on earth from outer space, and the discovery of potential extra terrestrial life forms in the stratosphere lends credence to that theory. However, it is no certainty, yet. Similarly, scientists have also theorised that alien bacteria may be discovered in frozen arctic ice.

An ISRO statement said: “The precautionary measures and controls operating in this experiment inspire confidence that these species were picked up in the stratosphere. While the present study does not conclusively establish the extra-terrestrial origin of micro-organisms, it does provide positive encouragement to continue the work in our quest to explore the origin of life.”

The experiment was conducted using a 26.7 million cubic foot balloon which was carrying a 459-kg scientific payload soaked in 38 kg of liquid neon. A balloon was flown from the National Balloon Facility in Hyderabad, operated by the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). The release did not give the date when the balloon was flown.

Throughout the flight, the probes remained immersed in liquid neon to create a cryo-pump effect. Air samples were collected by these cylinders from different heights, ranging from 20 to 41 km, they were parachuted down and retrieved. The samples were analyzed by scientists at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, and the National Centre for Cell Sciences (NCCS), Pune.

After the analysis of these samples the reports showed that there were various bacterial and fungal colonies akin to those found on earth but “Three bacterial colonies were, however, totally new species,” the ISRO release said.

Jayant Narlikar from the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune was at the helm of the investigation and scientists U R Rao from ISRO and P M Bhargava from Anveshna were the veterans who supported the experiment, the release said.

“This was the second such experiment conducted by ISRO, the first one being in 2001. Even though the first experiment had yielded positive results, it was decided to repeat the experiment by exercising extra care to ensure that it was totally free from any terrestrial contamination,” ISRO said.