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10-Centimeter Single-Celled Organisms Photographed 6 Miles Underwater

Posted by Soulskill on from the beware-the-leviathan dept.

New submitter roat35 tips news that researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have used Dropcam — a relatively small, glass-walled device containing an HD camera — to make videos of lifeforms that exist in the Mariana Trench, more than six miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. One of the more interesting organisms at those depths is the Xenophyophore, a creature which, despite being single-celled, can grow to be over 10 centimeters wide. "Scientists say xenophyophores are the largest individual cells in existence. Recent studies indicate that by trapping particles from the water, xenophyophores can concentrate high levels of lead, uranium and mercury and are thus likely highly resistant to large doses of heavy metals. They also are well suited to a life of darkness, low temperature and high pressure in the deep sea."

13 of 134 comments (clear)

  1. Heavy metals? by Pharmboy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I can't be the only one thinking that an organism that is simple and can absorb heavy metals sounds almost too good to be true. Sounds like something that *could* be easy (in relative terms) to genetically modify for cleaning up toxic areas.

    Yes, I know, what could possibly go wrong...

    --
    Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
    1. Re:Heavy metals? by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 4, Funny

      I can't be the only one thinking that an organism that is simple and can absorb heavy metals sounds almost too good to be true. Sounds like something that *could* be easy (in relative terms) to genetically modify for cleaning up toxic areas.

      My neighbour's teenager absorbs great quantities of heavy metal every day (to the dismay of the entire neighborhood), doesn't seem to possess an IQ much higher than a single cell organism, lives in a toxic area he calls his "bedroom", and I can guarantee you no amount of genetic engineering is likely to convince him to clean it...

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    2. Re:Heavy metals? by FishTankX · · Score: 4, Interesting

      How would we go about genetically modifying it to not require 6 miles of water ontop of it?

      Generally deep sea stuff tends to explode once we bring it up due to pressure differential.

    3. Re:Heavy metals? by robotkid · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I can't be the only one thinking that an organism that is simple and can absorb heavy metals sounds almost too good to be true. Sounds like something that *could* be easy (in relative terms) to genetically modify for cleaning up toxic areas.

      Yes, I know, what could possibly go wrong...

      There are actually lots of microbes that metabolize and break down toxic wastes. Typically they are found simply by digging into a pile of hazardous waste and seeing what is growing there. The problem is that these organisms don't have to be particularly fast or efficient to defend their niche, they just need to survive where other's can't, so in their natural state they will not make a significant difference on the timescales convenient to us (i.e. a 1,000 year cleanup). So we need to at least understand enough to genetically engineer a yugo into a porche, and that isn't exactly easy.

      The second catch here is that deep sea life also typically has extremely slow metabolisms to begin with compared to terrestrial organisms. You can't spend energy faster than you take it in, and that's very slow indeed on the ocean floor. Fish down there are adapted to months inbetween feedings and can live for many decades, I can only imagine how slowly these 10 cm blobs eat and reproduce.

    4. Re:Heavy metals? by robmv · · Score: 4, Funny

      Easy, lets dump the contaminated material on the sea and call it food for Xenophyophores

    5. Re:Heavy metals? by bennomatic · · Score: 4, Informative

      No, you missed the best part: its waste product is 50% pure gold, 50% unicorn rainbow.

      --
      The CB App. What's your 20?
    6. Re:Heavy metals? by funkboy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Maybe Monsanto could ask some its folks to adapt hyacinth to make some kind of container like a gourd or coconut? Object would be to have the plant store its gathered heavy metals in there, then harvest the stuff maybe wearing a Bio-Suit?

      Maybe we could just have Monsanto executives eat the heavy metals directly & save the rest of the world a lot of trouble...

    7. Re:Heavy metals? by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 5, Funny

      >> How would we go about genetically modifying it to not require 6 miles of water ontop of it?

      We could mate it with a Giraffe. Those don't have to be underwater to live.

  2. Largest single cells by DanTheStone · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What about ostrich eggs?

    1. Re:Largest single cells by assantisz · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Technically, the yolk is part of the "egg cell". The white and everything else within (besides the yolk) and including the shell is not. The only thing that is special about the yolk is that it does not partake in cell division if the egg is fertilized. There are no other cells within an egg. The white and the shell are not made from cells. All that said, I doubt, though, that the yolk of an ostrich egg is bigger than 20cm.

  3. Mixing metric and imperial by jeorgen · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's good to see Slashdot use the metric system, in this case centimeters, to describe the size of the animal, but it gets a bit confusing when it is combined with giving the depth it is found at in miles.

  4. For some reason... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It doesn't surprise me all that much that the fattest single-celled organism on the planet lives in the deepest, darkest place on Earth and is a fan of heavy metal.

  5. Now now... by skids · · Score: 4, Funny

    Let's not get into that whole "who's xenophyophore is longer" thing, guys.

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