Chemicals found in Martian soil releases oxygen that could be used to make the red planet habitable

Salts found in Martian soil could be transformed into breathable air thanks to a bacteria created in the lab by a group of students. Their genetically engineered organism can convert perchlorate - a chemical compound that covers over one per cent of Mars - into oxygen. The did so by placing a solution containing the salt into a bioreactor with the engineered bacteria. It then broke the compound down into its building blocks, chloride and oxygen, the latter of which was then harvested. NASA aims to have humans on Mars by 2030 and, if successful, a colony may be built in the future.