Micro-organisms

Name a type of organic matter and chances are some type of organism has evolved to eat it. Plants, meat, algae, insects and bacteria are all consumed by different creatures, but now scientists have discovered something new on the menu – viruses.

Scientists have discovered a completely new branch on the tree of life. This “supergroup” contains an incredibly diverse range of predatory microbes that are extremely different genetically from any other form of life on Earth.

Japanese scientists have engineered the smallest lifeform that can move on its own. The team introduced bacterial proteins that enable movement into a simple synthetic bacterium that normally cannot move, causing it to change shape and become mobile.

Biologists have discovered the largest bacterium ever found, with a single cell measuring a mammoth 2 cm long. Visible to the naked eye, this new species has bizarre characteristics that make it like a missing link in the evolution of complex cells.

Even though it's vitally important to check drinking water sources for pollutants, some places lack the facilities for performing such tests. A new system could help, as it uses a smartphone camera to check up on tiny aquatic organisms.

Scientists have revived microscopic animals that had been frozen in the Siberian permafrost for 24,000 years. The Bdelloid rotifers, or “wheel animals,” went right back to moving, eating and reproducing like the Ice Age was only yesterday.

Scientists have discovered the fossil of what may be the earliest multicellular animal ever found. Dating back a billion years, the microscopic fossil contains two distinct cell types, potentially making it an ancestor to advanced animals.

An experimental study has quantified the volume of aerosol particles generated by flushing toilets in a public restroom. The real-world research suggests even with lids closed flushing toilets can increase levels of ambient aerosol particles.

Scientists have created a synthetic single-celled organism that can divide and grow like a regular living cell. This breakthrough could lead to designer cells that can produce useful chemicals on demand or treat disease from inside the body.

In what sounds like the opening of a sci-fi movie, scientists have revived microorganisms that have laid dormant for 100 million years. These microbes were found deep beneath the seafloor, where they’ve been slumbering since the age of dinosaurs.

Life continually outdoes expectations. A new study from MIT has found that E. coli and yeast can survive in an atmosphere made up of 100 percent hydrogen – and that could have fascinating implications for life on other planets.

We keep finding life thriving under conditions we’d previously ruled out. The latest example comes from studies of rock cores drilled from the floor of the Indian Ocean, where microbes were discovered alive and well under almost half a mile of rock.