Christ First Forum

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Bacteria get a bad rap. Yes, certain rogue bacteria cause strep throat and forms of meningitis, but those sorts are in the minority. The vast majority of bacteria are massively helpful. Consider the bacteria in our intestines that help us get the most out of our food, or the bacteria that have been eating oil like crazy down in the Gulf - the little hydrocarbon munching darlings.

What's more, bacteria manage to survive in the most astounding conditions. Researcher Brian Schubert claims to have discovered tiny bacteria packed away inside fluid-filled chambers inside salt crystals from Death Valley, of all places. That's not all. Geologists say those salt crystals are 34,000 years old.

That's pretty amazing.

Don't bacteria hate salt? Isn't Death Valley called that for a reason? And what would bacteria be doing floating around inside microscopic crystal snow globes for 34 years, let alone an alleged 34,000?

According to Schubert, he was quite surprised to find the bacteria (a variety that do like salt). He started studying Death Valley halite as a doctoral student, and he discovered bacteria trapped in micron-sized bubbles in the salt crystals, hanging out in a form of suspended animation. They didn't move. They didn't reproduce. Yet, when freed from their salty prison, they began to reproduce and eat and die like bacteria normally do.

Odd.

The question that struck the researchers was, of course, how did the bacteria survive all that time?

Part of the answer is the algae trapped in the bubbles too, providing a potential cafeteria for the bacteria. "The most exciting part to me was when we were able to identify the Dunaliella cells in there," Schubert said, "because there were hints that could be a food source."

Yet, the bacteria did not reproduce or move, not that Schubert detected. When Schubert freed them and allowed them to recuperate for two months or so, they began to start making babies. In their salt prisons, however, they did no such thing. Therefore, the bacteria in the bubbles were the same bacteria that had been trapped there eons ago.

That presents a problem. DNA breaks down over time, the DNA in bacteria included.

"We're not sure what's going on," admitted Tim Lowenstein, geology professor at Binghamton University and Schubert's advisor when he did this research. "They need to be able to repair DNA, because DNA degrades with time."

Either the bacteria managed to repair their DNA while in their little comas, or the nucleotides that make up their DNA are especially faithful (and heat-resistant), or... maybe that particular layer of salt in Death Valley is not quite as old as the geologists thought.

The true explanation is out there. Schubert's results have been repeated by other labs, demonstrating that his discoveries were not a fluke. Maybe with further study the geologists and biologists will be able to come up with an answer to some of these puzzles. In the meanwhile, we can appreciate that God knew what He was doing when He created bacteria. He knew, even if we're not always so sure.

A very interesting read! Thanks sister Carmela!