2/12/14
Microbes are in every place in the world that you could imagine; From sulfuric puddles to the walls of caves. They get into almost every nook and cranny that we do. What about microbes that inhabit the ice? Scientists have new findings on what exactly a microbe can do while encased in ice, how about DNA repair while being stuck in it's frozen state? Scientists fed the microbes some food they essentially "reanimated" these microbes. Normally, these cells contained within the microbes break down after a certain period of time. Scientists say that there is some kind of metabolism going on within frozen cells to keep them at least a tiny bit alive for all this time. They found that the DNA repairs itself over time in these microbes, which means there could very well be microbes living on other planets if they can survive freezing for thousands upon thousands of years. The points are all labeled and clear about just how important this finding is for further research on life on other planets. Which begs the question, why haven't scientists studied ice microbes up until now? There's a whole new world found in this ice, and tons of "eureka" to boot. Ice is very simple to come across and is not too complex to study. Either way, these cool new microbes are going to take the scientific world by storm and could possibly solve our burning question of "can life be sustained on other freezing planets?"
Picture: http://www.uisoftware.com/Voyager/GuestPlanet/artmatica/IcePlanet.jpg
Very interesting. When I think microbes, glaciers are the last place I could imagine microbes living on. It never occurred to me that microbes could freeze in the ice and be preserved for so long. It sounds like something that would happen to an animal in a movie. I also found interesting that you said that they could be "reanimated". This could be very interesting to study and perhaps give us some clues on early bacteria on earth. Perhaps we can collect data from other planets that are freezing cold and look for microbes. Maybe we can find some microbes in common. Your blog open my mind to a whole new realization of where microbes can be found - pretty much everywhere.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think about how microbes could freeze and be preserved, I think of the Sci-Fi, cryogenic freezing. How people can be frozen for thousands of years, kind of like cavemen in movies. Its pretty cool to see that microbes are capable of doing this. Like Steve said, the "reanimating" aspect is very interesting. Microbes are everywhere, and they are capable of doing SO many different things. Very eye opening article!
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