Gilbert Levin

{{Short description|American engineer (1924–2021)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2021}}

Gilbert Victor Levin (April 23, 1924 – July 26, 2021) was an American engineer, the founder of Biospherics and the principal investigator of the Viking mission Labeled Release experiment. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland.{{cite web|title=Gilbert V. Levin, Who Said He Found Signs of Life on Mars, Dies at 97|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/04/science/space/gilbert-v-levin-dead.html|last=Chang|first=Kenneth|work=The New York Times|date=August 4, 2021|accessdate=August 4, 2021}}

In 1997, Levin published his conclusion that a 1976 Viking lander had discovered living microorganisms on Mars.{{Cite web|url=http://www.gillevin.com/mars.htm|title=Dr Gilbert V Levin - Research on Mars|website=www.gillevin.com|access-date=November 24, 2012|archive-date=November 5, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105103353/http://www.gillevin.com/mars.htm|url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/im-convinced-we-found-evidence-of-life-on-mars-in-the-1970s/ |title=I'm Convinced We Found Evidence of Life on Mars in the 1970s |work=Scientific American |date=October 10, 2019 |accessdate=November 4, 2019 |first=Gilbert V. |last=Levin }} He is noted for still claiming that his experiment on board the 1976 Viking Mars landers to detect microscopic life on Mars rendered a true positive result. On April 12, 2012, an international team including Levin reported their analysis "support the interpretation that the Viking LR experiment did detect extant microbial life on Mars." The team used cluster analysis of the Labeled Release experiments of the Viking program.{{cite journal |last1=Bianciardi |first1=Giorgio |last2=Miller |first2=Joseph D. |last3=Straat |first3=Patricia Ann |last4=Levin |first4=Gilbert V. |title=Complexity Analysis of the Viking Labeled Release Experiments |journal=IJASS |date=March 2012 |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=14–26 |bibcode=2012IJASS..13...14B |doi=10.5139/IJASS.2012.13.1.14 |doi-access=free |hdl=11365/27718 |hdl-access=free }}[https://web.archive.org/web/20120415072431/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/04/120413-nasa-viking-program-mars-life-space-science/ Life on Mars Found by NASA's Viking Mission?]{{cite journal |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOIPZayCEDA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/sOIPZayCEDA |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|title = Gilbert Levin: Mars microbes -- proof from the Viking missions?| journal = SPIE.TV on YouTube| year = 2014| last1 = Spie}}{{cbignore}}

He was one of the science advisers of the International Committee Against Mars Sample Return.[http://www.icamsr.org/advisors.html ICAMSR Advisors], retrieved July 16, 2013Richard Stenger [http://edition.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/11/07/mars.sample/ Mars sample return plan carries microbial risk, group warns], CNN, November 7, 2000

He also patented an inexpensive method to make tagatose, an artificial sweetener, in 1988.{{citation | title = A Natural Way to Stay Sweet | url = http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/Spinoff2004/ch_4.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050106065408/http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/Spinoff2004/ch_4.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = January 6, 2005 | publisher = NASA | accessdate = September 2, 2009}}.

Levin died in Bethesda, Maryland after an aortic dissection on July 26, 2021, at the age of 97.{{Cite web|title=What'sNEW in Cosmic Ancestry, beginning Jul 2021|url=https://www.panspermia.org/whatsnew105.htm|access-date=August 3, 2021|website=www.panspermia.org|language=en}}