Super Bacteria | Clipmarks


	Super Bacteria

dmoonme1

8-30-2009 2:37 AM

100 views

tags:

bacteria, space exploration, dna

dmoonme1 says:

Check this baby out ! Deinococcus radiodurans is a fabulous bacteria. It may well be our servant to help us explore new worlds.
These are the same bacteria you may have already heard of, but have forgotten. Back in the '70s they were adapted to help clean uo those nasty oil spills. Now we are heading into new territories, such as cleaning water & oxygen, and adapting to humans for survival on other planets. If you really want to see what's going on click on the links to further your education about them and your curiosity.

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/a2a35ac5-5688-4ef1-81dc-21cc760bc673/D0E2586F-DAC4-4939-9750-8BA5878C1C7E/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html" href="http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html" style="font-size: 11px;">antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html"><div align="center"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/img/868AFA22-79EC-4308-896D-04CDC3BF3AF1" alt="See Explanation.  Clicking on the picture will download
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<B> Explanation: </B>
These bacteria could survive on another planet.  
In an Earth lab, <A href="http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast14dec99_1.htm">Deinococcus radiodurans</A> (D. rad) survive extreme levels of
<A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionizing_radiation">radiation</A>,
extreme temperatures,
<A href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000982.htm">dehydration</A>, and exposure to
<A href="http://msds.chem.ox.ac.uk/glossary/genotoxic.html">genotoxic</A> chemicals.  
Amazingly, they even have the ability to repair their own
<A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA">DNA</A>,
usually with 48 hours.  
Known as an <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremophile">extremophile</A>,
<A href="http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/bacteria/bacteria.html">bacteria</A> such as
<A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinococcus_radiodurans">D. rad</A> are of interest to
<A href="http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/">NASA</A>
partly because they might be adaptable to help human
<A href="http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/">astronauts</A>
survive on other worlds.  
A recent
<A href="http://www.tigr.org/tigr-scripts/CMR2/GenomePage3.spl?database=gdr">map</A> of D. rad's
<A href="http://www.umass.edu/molvis/tutorials/dna/">DNA</A>
might allow biologists to augment their
<A href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAxCFZw_A3I">survival skills</A> with the ability to produce medicine, clean water, and oxygen.  
Already they have been
<A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_engineering">genetically engineered</A> to
<A href="http://www.scienceclarified.com/scitech/Bacteria-and-Viruses/Harnessing-Invisible-Power.html">help clean up spills</A> of toxic
<A href="http://periodic.lanl.gov/elements/80.html">mercury</A>.  
Likely one of the oldest surviving life forms,
D. rad was discovered by accident in the 1950s when scientists investigating
<A href="http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/">food preservation</A>
techniques could not easily kill it.  
Pictured above,
<A href="http://www.usuhs.mil/pat/deinococcus/index_20.htm">Deinococcus radiodurans</A> grow quietly
in a dish.
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