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> 2000
> October
> October 27, 2000:
Hour One: Die-hard Bacteria
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Last week, scientists announced that they had isolated 250 million-year-old
bacteria that had been trapped inside a flaw in a salt crystal.
If true, the sample of Bacillus would contain by far the oldest
living creatures ever found. The find is controversial -- some
researchers doubt that DNA can survive that long, and are claiming
that the sample must have been contaminated -- yet the announcement
may make us reconsider what we know about life on Earth.
Other researchers are studying a hardy organism called D. radiodurans,
which can take a radioactive licking and keep on ticking by using
an efficient DNA repair mechanism. Some investigators believe that
a modified form of radiodurans could be used for bioremediation.
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Dinococcus radiodurans, an
extremely radiation-tolerant
bacterium. (Courtesy
radiodurans team, USUHS)
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We'll talk about those studies, and about why other researchers are
pouring money into sequencing the genomes not of humans or mice, but
of bacteria. What do they hope to learn?
A bacteria round-table, on this hour of Science Friday. Call in with
your questions and comments to 1-800-989-8255.
Guests:
Michael Schmidt
Professor, Microbiology and Immunology
Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
John Heidelberg
Assistant Investigator
The Institute for Genomic Research
Rockville, Maryland
Russell Vreeland
Associate Professor of Biology
West Chester University
West Chester, Pennsylvania
Books/Articles Discussed:
Related Links:
Stalking
the Mysterious Microbe
MicrobeWorld.org
Your Gateway to the World of Microbes
MicrobeWorld
Portal Page
Virtual
Bacteria Museum
Microbiology
Webbed Out
extremophiles
The
Curious Microbe
- Science
News Online (6/12/99): Prehistoric bacteria revived from buried salt
- Microbial
Genome Program Report Image Gallery
Science
News Online (12/12/98): Meet the Superbug
Produced By: Karin Vergoth,
Annette Heist, Trevor Thieme
Web Producer: Charles
Bergquist
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