2022-08-312022-08-311974197423173172https://hdl.handle.net/10657/10906Complete amino acid analyses of 20 species of blue-green algae were done after growing part of the cultures axenically. A Beckman Model 121 Automatic Amino Acid Analyzer was used at NASA. Amino acid analyses of the representative species needed could not be located with a Medlars Search in the literature, hence the cultures had to be grown, lyophilized, and chemically purified for the amino acid analyses. To test the most self-sufficient cells known, the blue-green algae, 26 species, under simulated conditions of the Mars Mission in 1975 were irradiated with [superscript 60]Co from two sources, the nuclear reactor at Texas A & M; and the therapeutic X-ray machine at Baylor University School of Medicine. The irradiated sealed cultures were left under a double seal, unopened for 10 months (approximate time for a space ship to reach Mars), then placed in nutrient broth under proper conditions for growth. Controls were run. There was a single survivor, Glaucocystis nostochinearum, the single symbiont in the group, indicated there is a possibility that earth organisms could contaminate Mars. The theory of Symbiosis for the origin of the eucaryotic cell from the procaryotic cell is also supported.application/pdfenThis item is protected by copyright but is made available here under a claim of fair use (17 U.S.C. Section 107) for non-profit research and educational purposes. Users of this work assume the responsibility for determining copyright status prior to reusing, publishing, or reproducing this item for purposes other than what is allowed by fair use or other copyright exemptions. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires express permission of the copyright holder.Thesisreformatted digital