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March 2013
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Funny, the online ad I got in the middle of the article urged me to "Check Your symptoms! Find out what is causing your symptoms!" Maybe a...bacteria!!!???It is very cool that they've apparently found a bacteria that diverged from the gene pool so long ago that it's that dissimilar from any other life on earth.
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"They identified short fragments of DNA belonging to 19 known bacterial species. "All proved to be contaminants, or from human skin," says Bulat. A twentieth species is more unusual. The genetic samples show less than 86 per cent similarity to known major groups of bacteria. That could mean it belongs to an entirely new division, says Bulat, or it could just be a new species. The finding was confirmed by Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute."
New Scientist - Mystery bug found in Antarctica's Lake Vostok - 13 March
"The scientists have not yet established the mysterious microbe’s physiology and biochemistry, and they do not know how it might extract energy from its pitch-dark and nutrient-poor environment. More sophisticated tests, including whole-genome sequencing, will be required to answer these and other questions, says Bulat." ... " the high level of contamination — the current samples contain as much drill fluid as lake water — and the meagre numbers of bacteria, just 167 cells per millilitre, mean that these analyses cannot yet be done. He hopes that samples from a 54-metre-long ‘fresh-frozen’ ice core drilled during the 2012–13 season and expected to arrive in St Petersburg in May will reveal more about the genetics of microbial life in Lake Vostok"
Nature - Russian scientist defends Lake Vostok life claims - 12 March
Russia finds 'new bacteria' in Antarctic lake
"Russian scientists believe they have found a wholly new type of bacteria in the mysterious subglacial Lake Vostok in Antarctica, the RIA Novosti news agency reported on Thursday."
Feel free to share any Science news you come across =)