Conan the Bacterium
I ran across this amazing microorganism while looking up on some information about bacteria. A couple links into the interweb and I found this true survivor: Deinococcus radiodurans (formerly known as Micrococcus radiodurans).
This little critter can take it all. Heat, cold, dehydration, vacuum, radiation, the works! This is possible because it has the tools needed to quickly repair any damage caused to the DNA when subjected to such extreme conditions.
You would drop flat with 500 times less radiation than these little buggers… Now who’s at the peak of evolution? I can’t even stand the 40ºC temperatures in the summer… what about you?
And for those that ask about the utility of knowing about such a bacterium? Well, just think how they can be genetically engineered so as to help clean up nuclear waste or similarly difficult substances.
[Image from: Wikipedia.org]
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Could it be genetically engineered and inserted into human DNA so we become invencible/immortal? I want to be Wolverine :-D
[...] I didn’t know much about the amazing resistance of D. radiodurans but I had already heard about another tough fellow, the cockroach. I’d read and hear about [...]