The Pursuit of Life Where It Seems Unimaginable
SMRTR summary
A mile beneath the ocean surface, Karen Lloyd hunts for what she calls "intraterrestrials" – microbes that thrive in Earth's crust, far from sunlight and oxygen.
"Have you ever done something that is so exciting, but you know you can't fully express your excitement?" Lloyd says of her deep-sea submersible dives to collect samples from the seafloor.
Ten years ago, Lloyd's team published the first whole-genome sequences of microbes living in seafloor sediments, revealing organisms that push the boundaries of what we thought possible for life. These single-celled creatures can "breathe" rocks, potentially live for hundreds of thousands of years, and may even run their metabolic processes in reverse – the equivalent of humans making energy bars from their waste products.
This hidden biosphere is massive, collectively outweighing more than 200 million blue whales according to Lloyd's calculations.
Beyond expanding our understanding of life, these microbes could have practical applications. Their enzymes might someday stabilize medicines during transportation to remote areas.
"It gives me comfort to know there are these silent beings underneath my feet," Lloyd says, "just biding their time."
SMRTR provides this summary for quick context. The original article belongs to Quanta Magazine.
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