Slashdot Mirror
Iron-eating Bug Found to Thrive in 121C Heat
shobadobs writes "A story in the Independent reports that a microorganism appropriately referred to as 'Strain 121' has been found capable of thriving, with its colony size doubling, at a heat of 121 degrees Celsius, eight degrees more than the previously recorded maximum temperature that an organism can survive. This deep-sea volcanic vent creature was found on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, and it feeds off of iron." Luckily it's only a microorganism. At first glance I thought scientists might have discovered a real-life rust monster.
LOL, I love that quote.
Seriously though, the organism doesn't just chew through iron like a termite through wood. It only feeds off microscopic (smaller than itself) pieces of iron, such as wandering particles/shavings. Even if it were able to eat through an iron surface, its' small size would prevent it from doing much immediate damage.
"Ladies and gentlemen, uh, we've just lost the picture, but what we've seen speaks for itself. The Corvair spacecraft has apparently been taken over- 'conquered' if you will- by a master race of giant space ants. It's difficult to tell from this vantage point whether they will consume the captive Earthman or merely enslave them. One thing is for certain: there is no stopping them; the ants will soon be here. And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to remind them as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves." (Deep Space Homer)
No idea about IN SOVIET RUSSIA though mate.
J.
You're only jealous cos the little penguins are talking to me.
The original news release, with mpeg videos, is available from the National Science Foundation website. Enjoy.
The discovery of new extremophiles is very important to biotech.
A discussion of the various discoveries from extremophiles is here. I'm going to focus on one process, made possible by genes from hyperthermophiles from deep ocean vents. One process, PCR (Polymer Chain Reaction), the technology that allows us to create large batches of identical DNA, depends upon polymerase taken from these organisms.
The reason is this: in order to for PCR to work, a solution of polymerase and the desired DNA sequence is heated so that the DNA will quickly uncoil, allowing the polymerase to go to work - copying each strand of DNA present, doubling the amount of DNA. The solution is cooled, and then the process repeats, doubling the amount of DNA each time. Unfortunately, "normal" polymerase quickly breaks down at the best temperatures for this process.
Extremophile polymerase changes all of this, since it's perfectly happy to operate at these high temperatures.
"It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny