The presence of terrestrial microorganisms within a sample of Ryugu underlines that microorganisms are the world's greatest colonizers and adept at circumventing contamination controls. The presence of microorganisms within space-returned samples, even those subject to stringent contamination controls, is, therefore, not necessarily evidence of an extraterrestrial origin.
Despite the stringent sterilization protocols, the contamination observed in Ryugu samples indicates the ease with which Earth’s microorganisms can infiltrate off-Earth samples, complicating the search for extraterrestrial life.
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