BACTERIOPHAGES: SMALL THINGS CONSIDERED

Bacteriophages ("phages", for short) are viruses that infect prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea), harnessing the resources of the host cell to replicate vast numbers of themselves, eventually causing the cell to lyse and release the phage progeny, which then find new hosts and repeat the cycle. But that's just the textbook definition. What really hooks us in that some phages look just like lunar landers sent from alien spaceships. Merry Youle, one of STC's very own, has written a charming paean to her beloved subjects, a full length book all about "what makes the phages so fascinating, so intriguing, and so important."

Youle tells us, "This book was born of love, exasperation, and wonderment." Youle holds that phages are deserving of far more ink, and respect, than they've thus far received. They exist everywhere where their hosts thrive, including hydrothermal vents, acidic springs, the arctic tundra, and your own gut. They impact geothermal cycles, algal booms, and biodiversity. They are useful tools for genetic manipulation in the lab as well as in nature. and can serve as allies in treating bacterial infections.

Enterobacteriophage T4

http://schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2017/07/a-star-studded-phantastic-voyage-of-phages.html

These "Indestructible" Animals Would Survive a Planet-Wide Apocalypse

Even the most catastrophic astrophysical events couldn't wipe out the hardy tardigrade, researchers report.

A magnified view of a tardigrade, also known as a water bear

The world's most robust animals may very well survive until the sun stops shining.

Also known as water bears, tardigrades are tiny water dwelling creatures famed for their resiliency. The eight legged invertebrates can survive for up to 30 years without food or water and can endure wild temperature extremes, radiation exposure, and even the vacuum of space.

"Tardigrades are extremely hardy animals," says Thomas Boothby, a tardigrade researcher at the University of North Carolina. "Scientists are still trying to work out how they survive these extremes."

At a minimum, all of Earth's oceans would have to boil away to completely wipe out all life on the planet. Although Boothby said tardigrades are only known to survive high temperatures when dry and those species living in the sea would likely die before the waters boiled , tardigrades are still expected to avoid extinction until our sun swells up and becomes a red giant roughly six billion years from now, according to researchers who investigated the effects of various doomsday scenarios.


For details Tardigrades: The Indestructible Animals