A new UK project could help detect evidence of life on Mars and improve our understanding of how life evolved on Earth. The aim is to develop a technique that can identify biomolecules in water that have been trapped in rocks for millions to billions of years.

The three-year initiative will be carried out by geologists and bioengineers at the University of Aberdeen and the University of Glasgow, with funding from the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

The initiative is being led by Dr John Parnell of the University of Aberdeen's Geology and Petroleum Geology Department, in collaboration with Professor Jonathan Cooper of the University of Glasgow's Department of Electronics.

Professor Cooper says, 'With our collaborators in Aberdeen, we are fortunate to have the possibility of working on one of the most exciting projects in the universe, the search for life on other planets!'

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