QUESTION: 
There have been reports of deformed frogs in Minnesota and the Dakotas.
Would animals born on Mars be deformed because of the different climate, 
atmosphere, and general environment?   

ANSWER from Jack Farmer on January 31, 1997:
It is important to realize that life as we know it could not even survive
to reproduce on the present surface of Mars.  Liquid water is unstable
there and water can only exist as vapor and ice. Because there is no oxygen
in the thin atmosphere, and no protective ozone shield, the surface is
subject to very high intensity ultraviolet  (UV) radiation.  In addition,
the surface soils are loaded with peroxides, chemical oxidants that are
destructive to living systems (bleach is an example).

Short of terraforming Mars to attain an Earth-like condition, terrestrial
organisms born on Mars would have to be delivered within a protective
shelter, where Earth-like conditions were maintained.  This would allow us
to overcome the factors discussed above by creating a favorable artificial
environment within shelters something like Biosphere 2, an artificial
habitat in Arizona where scientists live and work for long periods.

But even within an artificial habitat there would still remain some
potentially important factors to consider on Mars, namely, the low gravity
environment (Mars' gravity is only ~1/3 the Earth's) and the absence of a
magnetic field to protect living organisms from high energy ionizing
radiation.  We could probably find ways to protect a shelter from ionizing
radiation (e.g. by going underground), but short of living inside a
centrifuge (a device that artificially increases gravity by spinning thnigs
around an axis of rotation), we would still have to consider the effects of
gravity on growth and development.

We have flown reproductive experiments in the Space Shuttle to study the
effects of low gravity on the development of frog embryos, etc.  My
recollection (and I'm not an expert on this) is that the frogs at least,
develop normally in orbit around the Earth.  But there are important
differences between frogs and people, so we have a lot more research to do
to find out whether low gravity is a problem or not.  This is an important
area of research within NASA and if we can continue the funding for such
projects, then in time we will undoubetdly find the answer.

Incidentally, reports of deformed frogs are only symptoms of a much larger
problem.  Frogs and other amphibians in general are in a crisis all around
the world, and no one has really clearly established why they are on the
decline.  Some have suggested amphibian reproductive systems are
particularly sensitive to chemical pollution, while others have speculated
that the higher UV radiation at high latitudes (due to the decline in ozone
from hydroflourocarbons and other chemical refrigerants) is producing birth
defects and causing populations to die out.  And of course, the cause could
be a comination of such factors related to destruction of marginal aquatic
environments that these groups depend upon for their survival.  Perhaps an
equally relevant concern is to do more to preserve the habitats of species
on Earth!  - Jack Farmer

Jack D. Farmer, PhD.
NASA Ames Research Center