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microbiology

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Top of the illustration shows vegetation and half of a chloroplast releasing dots of oxygen. Bottom shows half of a cell in darkness releasing similar dots.
microbiology

Underground Cells Make ‘Dark Oxygen’ Without Light

By Saugat Bolakhe
July 17, 2023
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In some deep subterranean aquifers, cells have a chemical trick for making oxygen that could sustain whole underground ecosystems.

Panoramic view of Pan de Azúcar National Park in Chile’s Atacama Desert, showing fog, hills in the background and a solitary human figure in the distance at center. The desert floor is mottled.
microbiology

In a Fierce Desert, Microbe ‘Crusts’ Show How Life Tamed the Land

By Zack Savitsky
July 12, 2023
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Extreme microorganisms carpeting the Atacama Desert in Chile illuminate how life might have first taken hold on Earth’s surface.

microbiology

Microbes Gained Photosynthesis Superpowers From a ‘Proton Pump’

By Saugat Bolakhe
July 5, 2023
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New research reveals how marine microbes use an extra membrane that once had digestive functions to boost their yield from photosynthesis.

Colored micrograph of the new Loki Asgard archaeon that was reported in December 2022.
microbes

Primitive Asgard Cells Show Life on the Brink of Complexity

By Joshua Sokol
April 11, 2023
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As researchers race to cultivate more of the intriguing cells from the deep seafloor, the few cells now growing in labs are giving us our best glimpses of the forerunners of all complex life.

An illustration of a plate of spaghetti with big virus particles instead of meatballs.
microbiology

With Nothing to Eat Except Viruses, Some Microbes Thrive

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
February 21, 2023
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“Virovores” — organisms that survive and multiply by eating viruses — might influence the flow of energy through ecosystems.

Illustration of a mother holding an infant, with strands of DNA running between the bacteria inside them.
microbiome

Mobile Genes From the Mother Shape the Baby’s Microbiome

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
January 17, 2023
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Tiny genetic sequences in a mother’s bacteria seem to hop into the infant’s bacteria, perhaps ensuring a healthy microbiome later in life.

microbiology

Ocean Bacteria Reveal an Unexpected Multicellular Form

By Carrie Arnold
November 2, 2022
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Marine bacteria normally seen as single cells join together as a “microscopic snow globe” to consume bulky floating carbohydrates.

Artistic representation of water radiolysis supporting life below ground.
microbiology

Radioactivity May Fuel Life Deep Underground and Inside Other Worlds

By Jordana Cepelewicz
May 24, 2021
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New work suggests that the radiolytic splitting of water supports giant subsurface ecosystems of life on Earth — and could do it elsewhere, too.

ecology

A Physicist’s Approach to Biology Brings Ecological Insights

By Gabriel Popkin
October 13, 2020
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The physicist Jeff Gore tests theories about microbe communities experimentally and finds new rules governing ecological stability.


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