Microbe awake after frozen for 120,000 years

The new bacteria species was found nearly three kilometers beneath a Greenland glacier by Dr Jennifer Loveland-Curtze and a team of scientists from Pennsylvania State University in the United States. The team coaxed the dormant microbe, now named Herminiimonas glaciei, back to life; first incubating their samples at 2 degree Celsius for seven months and then at 5 degree C for a further four and a half months, after which colonies of very small purple-brown bacteria were seen. Studying the long-lasting bacteria may provide clues to what life forms might exist on other planets. Most life on our planet has always consisted of microorganisms, so it is reasonable to consider that this might be true on other planets as well. The new bacterium is described in the current issue of the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.chinaview.cn for full version.