Scientists have succeeded in reviving microbes retrieved from sediment deep under the seafloor in the heart of the South Pacific that had survived in a dormant state for 101.5 million years in research illustrating the resiliency of life on Earth.
The microbes, spanning 10 major and numerous minor groups of bacteria, maybe the planet’s oldest-known organisms. The scientists said on Tuesday the microbes were present in clay samples drilled from the research vessel JOIDES Resolution about 245 feet (74.5 meters) under the seafloor, below 3.5 miles (5.7 km) of water.
Up to 99 per cent of the microbes, dating back to the age of dinosaurs, that were found encased in the sediment survived despite having essentially……..
