Look: Future colonies on Mars could be built with human blood

Transporting a single brick from Earth to Mars is estimated to cost as much as 2 million dollars.

Imagine what it’d cost to build a research station — or just a modest space to sleep.

“Human biomaterials” in this case means extracting proteins from human blood plasma, and compounds from urine, tears, and sweat.

When mixed with Martian dust, the result is a surprisingly strong, earth-brown material that can be molded and even 3D printed into shapes.

The recipe is outlined in a September 10 report in the journal Materials Today Bio.

Aled Roberts, the study’s lead author, tells Inverse that this technique doesn’t require any heavy equipment — freeing astronauts up to take other critical items on their journeys to Mars.

But extracting biofluids like blood is no easy feat — you need a safe, controlled environment.

His team calculates that a single human on Mars could potentially make enough building material from their bodily waste to support another person after 6 years.

So if you do make it to Mars one day, you might be expected to help construct buildings from your own blood, sweat, and tears — literally.