We could be Martians, and the building blocks of life may be lying in wait on the barren red planet. 

The "oxidized mineral form of the element molybdenum" is believed to be crucial in the creation of life, and this substance most likely only existed on Mars and not on Earth, a European Association of Geochemistry press release reported.

"It's only when molybdenum becomes highly oxidized that it is able to influence how early life formed. This form of molybdenum couldn't have been available on Earth at the time life first began, because three billion years ago the surface of the Earth had very little oxygen, but Mars did. It's yet another piece of evidence which makes it more likely life came to Earth on a Martian meteorite, rather than starting on this planet," Professor Steven Benner, of the Westheimer Institute for Science and Technology, said.

Two "paradoxes" have researchers stumped on how life could have started on Earth.

The "tar paradox" is a problem, because if heat and light are administered to organic molecules they don't just turn into life forms, instead they morph into a tar-like substance.

"Certain elements seem able to control the propensity of organic materials to turn into tar, particularly boron and molybdenum, so we believe that minerals containing both were fundamental to life first starting," Professor Benner, said. "Analysis of a Martian meteorite recently showed that there was boron on Mars; we now believe that the oxidized form of molybdenum was there too."

During what would have been the early days of life, Earth was believed to have been totally covered by water. In the second paradox, life would have struggled to form under these conditions because water is corrosive to RNA, an essential building block of life. RNA is also thought to have been the first molecule to appear.

"The evidence seems to be building that we are actually all Martians; that life started on Mars and came to Earth on a rock," Professor Benner said. "It's lucky that we ended up here nevertheless, as certainly Earth has been the better of the two planets for sustaining life. If our hypothetical Martian ancestors had remained on Mars, there might not have been a story to tell."

The research was presented at the annual Goldschmidt conference.