Did life on Earth really come from Mars?

And "All humans may be 'Martians'?" (Via National Post)

The story comes from biochemist Dr. Steven Benner, who gave a talk Thursday at the Goldschmidt Conference in Florence, Italy. (Via Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Geochemical Society)

Benner argues several materials necessary for life to form wouldn’t have been available on Earth 3 billion years ago when life first arose — but there would have been plenty of them on Mars.

But is this just another wild theory meant to generate publicity? Well, that depends on who you ask. (Via Vanity Fair)

Benner has his supporters, such as prominent biologist Richard Dawkins, who said the idea is "not totally silly." That's some high praise.

And NBC science writer Alan Boyle said: "One thing's for sure: Benner is not a kook. He was one of the first chemists to voice skepticism about the claims for arsenic-based life, which stirred up such a fuss in 2010."

Even Benner’s critics say he does great work and that his ideas are plausible.

More than 100 meteorites found on Earth have been traced to Mars, most likely thrown into space by an asteroid strike. (Via NASA)

And it's long been thought certain hardy microbes could actually survive for a while in the vacuum of space. (Via National Science Foundation)

So the critics admit much of what Benner says is possible, but they do take issue with the sensationalist press release.

Scientific American's Caleb Scharf points out Benner's explanation for how life arose is just one of many possible theories — and most others don't require material from Mars.

Astrobiologist David Grinspoon says so much about the origin of life is still up in the air, it's just as likely Earth was seeded by life from Venus as from Mars.

So at this point, the answer to the question “Are we all Martians?” is a not-so-sensational “maybe” — although it does make for a good headline.

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