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Russians Find "New Bacteria" In Lake Vostok

Posted by samzenpus on from the new-germ-on-the-block dept.

tverbeek writes "Russian scientists believe they have found a new type of bacteria in the sub-glacial Lake Vostok. From the article: 'The samples obtained from the underground lake in May 2012 contained a bacteria which bore no resemblance to existing types, said Sergei Bulat of the genetics laboratory at the Saint Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics. "After putting aside all possible elements of contamination, DNA was found that did not coincide with any of the well-known types in the global database," he said. "We are calling this life form unclassified and unidentified," he added.'"

2 of 147 comments (clear)

  1. "life form unclassified" by ChrisKnight · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I love living in a world where the regular headlines sound like the start of a decent sci fi adventure.

    Now let's just hope this puppy doesn't get out of the lab and become a sci-fi/horror. Two hundred years from now it could be on the History Channel as "Zombie Plagues from the Past".

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    -- This sig is only a test. If this were a real sig it would say something witty. --
    1. Re:"life form unclassified" by rve · · Score: 5, Interesting

      700 million years (or more!)

      Uhm, where did you get that figure? 700 million years is two supercontinent cycles ago - Antarctica was slightly north of the equator then. The antarctic ice cap didn't even start to form until the end of the Eocene. According to wikipedia, lake Vostok may have been isolated for the past 15 to 25 million years.