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3000-year-old Microbes

Posted by michael on from the stuff-you-found-at-the-back-of-your-refrigerator dept.

marga writes "Science Daily is running a story about a group of researchers the have been drilling into the Antarctic ice and discovered 3000-year-old microbes that could come back to life if put in contact with liquid water. And not only that, they claim that they have uncovered a whole new ecological system lying beneath the Lake Vida."

5 of 34 comments (clear)

  1. Age is not an issue by Christopher+Doopov · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I guess that this isn't as much of an issue as say, 100,000 year old microbes, but still...

    I don't know if this was meant to be a joke (please excuse my lack of sense of humor then) but the age of those organisms is meaningless. I do not care if any given life form is one year old or million years old, as long as it is safe for humans. Remember that there are species, which have not been evolving for many years. There is no difference between such an organism today, and the same organism years ago, because it has not changed. The age is not an issue, the behavior is.

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    ~Christopher Doopov

  2. Tune Back to the Late Late Show, kiddies by 0x69 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let's see... How many umpteen-thousand-year-old woolly mammoths have been dug out of Siberian ice? How many slow-moving glaciers are drooling ancient bits of organic crud all the time? How many deep old aquifers have been drilled & pumped by water-hungry people?

    How many times have ancient supergerms from these Not-Meant-To-Be-Touched-By-Man sources nearly wiped humanity from the face of the Earth?

    There's really no need to fear for the future, folks. Our handsome hero, his beautiful babe, and their nerdy sidekick will save the world before bedtime.

    We'll return to tonight's feature - "Purple Doom From The Ice Continent" - after a quick message from our sponsors...

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    It's easy to make up & spread cool- and credible-sounding stuff. Finding & checking hard facts is hard work.
  3. Re:"contaminate" by Eagle7 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think he meant alien in the traditional sense, i.e. "from outside the enclosed ecosystem", not "extraterrestrial." In other words, did the scientists unwittingly just go and open up a lake that's been sealed for 3000 years and contaminate it before it could even be studied? Did thier drills leak anything into said lake, affecting it's chemistry? etc.

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    _sig_ is away
  4. Re:Worried by Simon+Field · · Score: 4, Insightful


    Some bacteria that have evolved to live in very salty water at -10 Celsius are unlikely to do much harm to a human.

    On the other hand, the anti-freeze molecules they make might be quite beneficial. Something like that might make cryogenic suspended animation possible, or just better ice cream.

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    Free book: Science Toys You Can Make

  5. Re:Worried by Anik315 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Epidemic viral agents/bacteria aren't going to come from some exotic place since they have to be tailor made for our immune system.

    Our immune system has been evolving for hundreds of millions years, and it will attack everything that doesn't have the right 'password'. The only way pathogens can get those 'passwords' is just through enormous amounts of random mutation.

    The rather prosiac solution is to stop using antibiotics irresponsibly because that just allows the stronger strains to proliferate.