PLEIADES: A highly integrated lab-on-chip system for the detection of life markers in extraterrestrial environments
The detection of biomarkers of past or present life is a high priority task for the astrobiological exploration of the Solar System, currently pursued through in situ analyses by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Lab-on-chip systems are under study as a very promising alternative approach, offering high specificity and detectability and minimizing employed resources as volume, mass, power consumption.