Toxic Montana Lake's Extremophiles Might Be a Medical Treasure Trove

EagleHasLanded writes "The Berkeley Pit, an abandoned open pit copper mine in Butte, Montana — part of the largest Superfund site in the U.S. — is filled with 40 billion gallons of acidic, metal-contaminated water. For years the water was believed to be too toxic to support life, until Andrea and Donald Stierle, a pair of organic chemists at the University of Montana, discovered that the Pit is a rich source of unusual extremophiles, 'many of which have shown great promise as producers of potential anti-cancer agents and anti-inflammatories.' In the course of their ongoing investigation, the two self-described 'bioprospectors' have also discovered an uncommon yeast, which might play a significant role in cleaning up the site. In the meantime, the Pit has become a tourist attraction in Butte, which charges $2 for the opportunity to take in the view from the Viewing Stand."

Comments

Re:Nature is very very versataile

[khallow]

I never pretended to speak for the stupid.

No they don't

[SuperKendall]

They think that since we now have the ability to effect global climate we should probably be at least trying to do it in a way that isn't terrible for us.

If they thought that they would not be speaking out so strongly against warming as wholly evil; warmer climates historically led to improved living conditions for civilizations across the globe.

Instead they have been trying to promote that warming, whatever the cause, is inherently bad and must be stopped by pouring money into (A) research performed by the alarmists and (B) the alternative companies that warming alarmists have invested heavily in and could not survive on their own, while draining as much money away from "overly rich" target nations and into third world nations (that are easier to collect graft from) as possible.