Ancient Antarctic Bacteria Revived

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Ancient Antarctic Bacteria Revived

Posted by michael on Friday February 20, 2004 @05:26AM from the better-get-your-flu-shot dept.

Danny Rathjens writes "Frozen bacteria from Antarctica, estimated to be between five to eight million years old, were brought back to life simply by warming them up! NASA folks also participated since they think this can give them better clues on where to look for life on Mars."

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Re:YAY by clausiam · 2004-02-20 05:34 · Score: 4, Informative

oh GREAT! Lets just go and revive ancient bacteria that could be a deadly virus!
Umm - how can a BACTERIA be a VIRUS since these are completely different organisms?
/Claus
Before opening, please see by Alrescha · 2004-02-20 05:37 · Score: 4, Insightful

"The Andromeda Strain", by Michael Crichton, (c) 1969

A.

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...bringing you cynical quips since 1998
The geeky perspective... by jeeves99 · 2004-02-20 05:44 · Score: 4, Interesting

I have whole freezers full of mammalian, bacteria, and yeast cells that I can though out and revive with a usual 80% efficiency. Freezing cells for later use is VERY common in the research world. For longterm storage -160 is preferred and for short term -80 is acceptable. The fact that these survived bacteria so long at -27 is suprising. It makes me wonder what percentage actually survived.

What is a bit more suprising about this is that the cells were not stored in any special solution. DMSO or glycerol based solutions are typically added to the cell media right before freezing because they prevent ice crystals from burtsting the cells. You ever fill a sealed glass container with water and then freeze it? The water will expand and crack the glass. Same principle here.

These bacteria cells are hardy little suckers.
Obviously... by Your_Mom · 2004-02-20 05:44 · Score: 4, Funny

...these scientists haven't watched enough horror movies.

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Objects in the blog are closer then they ap
Sci-fi mumbojumbo by mwheeler01 · 2004-02-20 05:45 · Score: 4, Interesting

I love the comments so far that are foretelling doom. Perhaps these microbes will lead us in the direction of a cure for cancer or be ultra efficient energy producers that can live in batteries. Those seem just a likely to me.

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Pretty widgets? What pretty widgets?
Re:HEY by Tumbleweed · 2004-02-20 05:51 · Score: 4, Funny

Hey, don't blame the bacteria - it was born that way! If it was born as a virus in a bacteria's body, you have NO RIGHT to superimpose your 'value system' on it. Get your laws of the bacteria's body!

Damn right-wingers...
8 million years is nothing. by eggstasy · 2004-02-20 06:19 · Score: 5, Informative

Around 1995 scientists extracted bacteria from an insect's stomach, that had been trapped in amber for 125 million years, and they lived.
A few years later, scientists revived bacteria that had been dormant inside a crystal of common table salt for 250 million years!
Even so, Mars has been geologically dead for 1.5 billion years, so I don't know how how these paltry 8 million years are suddenly so significant.
Seeds might also be revivable by justanyone · 2004-02-20 06:26 · Score: 5, Interesting
Sorry, this may be apocryphal, but here's two stories I remember reading:
- A house in Britain that was moved / removed. Underneath the stone and misc. flooring (which was all removed) a bunch of flowers sprouted that were totally unlike any in the area, but which matched descriptions from the middle ages of flowers at the time. But these flowers are long gone from Britain now.
- Likewise, I've heard that some wheat taken from an Egyptian tomb was planted and it sprouted (this was probably great for some genetic diversity study).
What I'm wondering is, I wonder if any seeds (or at least pollen) can be found preserved by extreme cold in the Antartic that could grow to be real plants ? If so, it seems to me a study of the amino acids, etc. in the plants might be worthwhile of study.

Does anyone know if plants have DNA? I am thinking that only animals have DNA, that plants have different structures like RNA or something. Sorry for my ignorance, I'm willing to read this online if someone can point me in the right direction to a site on the basics of plant biology without being too 'biochemical genetic engineering' (expert level) text. I've had HS bio, and college chem, and lots and lots and lots of physics, but that's it...

Thanks,
-- Kevin J. Rice
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Unitarian Church: Freethinkers Congregate!
1. Re:Seeds might also be revivable by Noofus · 2004-02-20 06:36 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Every living thing that we have discovered on thsi planet so far has DNA. Everything. "Modern" (Eukaryotic) multi-celled and many single eleed organisms keep their DNA in the cell nuclei. Most bacteria (but not all) are of the "non-modern" (Prokaryotic) type. Their DNA just floats around in their cells. However they ALL have DNA.
  
  Even viruses, which are debatable as to their status as organisms keep DNA around (though a few are RNA based and known as retro viruses. HIV is an example)
Current day implications... by rodney+dill · 2004-02-20 07:02 · Score: 4, Funny

...We're not sure how long Al Gore can go yet and still be revived.

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