http://tinyurl.com/b8ok5x3By: Becky Oskin, OurAmazingPlanet Staff Writer
Published: 03/07/2013 10:01 AM EST on LiveScience
The story of life on Earth keeps getting stranger. Researchers report they've discovered dormant algae and a thriving community of carbon-chomping fungus deep beneath the ocean floor in 2.7-million-year-old mud.
Genetic evidence indicates the most deeply buried fungi are distinct from wind-blown relatives at the planet's surface, suggesting the fungal communities are ancient and isolated.
"We've found strong evidence that fungi are alive and active and in the sub-seafloor," said William Orsi, a microbiologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Mass., and lead author of the study describing the find, detailed online Feb. 13 in the journal PLOS One.
Beneath the ocean floor lives a vast community of microbial life researchers are only now starting to explore. Some scientists call it the "dark biosphere," and see the potential for a treasure trove of new potential drugs.
Yeah, sure. Put it in a laboratory and give it "ideal" growing conditions. Isn't that when the buxom young lab assistant walks in, shrieks, and runs out yelling something about it having grown and become "alive"?
I swear, it seems "B"-grade movies ought to be required viewing in kollidge scientist courses just so that sort of thing does not happen again.
stay safe.
