Planetary protection
Gary wrote:
Among others, we can thank G. Levin and Barry D. for this stupidity.
Alex writes:
Admittedly, planetary protection (both forward and back contamination) is a serious issue, but frankly IMO the NRC recommendation for a dedicated BSL-4 facility to receive Martian samples strikes the best balance between the extremist views of DiGregorio et al. (the sky is falling) and Zubrin et al. ("[the back contamination threat is] not only illusory but hallucinatory"), both who are spouting propaganda for their own zealotry.
See http://planetary.org/html/news/opinions/nothreat.html