Microbes Beneath Sea Floor Genetically Distinct

Microbes Beneath Sea Floor Genetically Distinct

www.sciencedaily.com

ScienceDaily (July 22, 2008) — Tiny microbes beneath the sea floor, distinct from life on the Earth's surface, may account for one-tenth of the Earth's living biomass, according to an interdisciplinary team of researchers, but many of these minute creatures are living on a geologic timescale.

"Our first study, back in 2006, made some estimates that the cells could double every 100 to 2,000 years," says Jennifer F. Biddle, PhD. recipient in biochemistry and former postdoctoral fellow in geosciences, Penn State. "Now we have the first comprehensive look at the genetic makeup of these microbes." Biddle is now a postdoctoral associate at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

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[edit on 22-7-2008 by grover]

This is so incredibly fascinating. The more we know about life itself the harder it is to believe that the entire universe is not squirming with life.



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(visit the link for the full news article)