QUESTION: 
Will we find living things on the Martian surface?

ANSWER from Jack Farmer on November 20, 1996:
The surface of Mars is too dry for Earth life. Liquid water is unstable
and vaporizes instantly. The ultraviolet radiation is extreme as well, and
would probably fry microbial DNA unless it had a heavy-duty sunscreen.
Finally, the Martian surface is red because of peroxide or bleach, which 
basically destroys organic molecules. So, it seems unlikely that we would
find living things on the surface today.

But it's also worth noting that when we returned one of the cameras from 
the Moon after 36 months in the vacuum and cold of space, the 
microorganisms on the camera could be brought back to life!

ANSWER from Jack Farmer on July 25, 1997:
The microbes recovered from the camera were carried to the moon from Earth.
They were identical to the species identified as the bioload residing on
various mission components before launch from Earth.