The problem, Dan, is with the handling of Martian meteorites once they are identified as such.

I have no problem with the private collection and ownership of meteorites, with this one exception. Much as I'd like to own a piece of Mars (okay, a speck of Mars) I can't support the private ownership of Mars meteorites - the data is simply too valuable, and with current policies it is simply being lost: we don't know if the water is Mars water, or Earth water, or some combination -

Private ownership of a rock?

Ed, if I find a shiny stone in the wilds of this planet and want to keep it, that’s my prerogative. I don’t care where it came from, the stone has been claimed by me. To state otherwise is to open a smelly, messy can that could build into questioning ownership of anything.

Like the face, it’s just a rock.

And for the rarity of the stone, I’ll bet there are literally acres of the stuff on a certain red planet that probes are now exploring, and that NASA is seriously considering visiting -- personally. We’re on our way, Ed. It might not be NASA that breaks ground first on Mars, but it will definitely be human, and it will definitely be soon.

The race is building.

I expect that all Mars meteorites were sterilized by radiation during their flight through space - but this does not mean that DNA fragments may still remain within them. (I think it likely that they do.) These rocks have lain in the desert or the Antarctic for years, so the chances of any of this DNA being incorporated by any Earth organisms (think in terms of prions) has been extremely remote - but this changes once these rocks are found.

Catch-22.

The only way to preserve the continuity of the meteor is to not find it -- or better, to leave it in space.

(This premise could easily be expanded into a great low budget science fiction movie - have the Martian DNA interfere with cellular reproduction, leading to something like cancer, but worse, where say ears or other body parts quickly begin growing all over-)

The Crawling Hand comes to mind.
;^)

I think that upon identification, Martian meteorites should be moved to the LPI containment facilities. I think that other researchers should be enabled to do their studies and research on these rocks from Mars there, in Houston.

I have nothing against a Mars rock owner selling such a stone, or parts thereof, of research.

I know these ideas won't be popular here, but that's how I see it.

Popular or not, it’s always good to hear other voices -- the ones outside my head.

Dan