Scientists believe a lake in Argentina’s remote, inhospitable northwest may provide clues to how life began on Earth and how it may persist on other worlds.
Millions of “super” bacteria have been discovered living within the oxygen-depleted Lake Diamante, situated at the heart of a massive volcanic crater more than 15,400 feet above sea level.
Bacteria’s environment is comparable to that of early Earth before living and breathing species started to envelop the globe in an oxygen-rich atmosphere.
The circumstances, which include high amounts of arsenic and alkalinity, may potentially give information on life beyond Earth.
“This is of immense scientific importance as a window into our history and also for astrobiology, the study of life on other planets,” said Maria Eugenia Farias, a member of the team that found the life-forms in Lake Diamante earlier this year.
If germs can live here, they should be able to survive elsewhere, even Mars, according to the hypothesis.
Extremophiles have been discovered in different regions of the globe, and they may have a high financial worth.
Detergents, for example, utilise bacteria that break down lipids.
However, Farias claims that these bacteria, known as “polyextremophiles,” are unique in that they thrive in the harshest of environments.
“What we see here is a confluence of extraordinary circumstances.
And it is because of this that this location is unique in the globe “Farias, a microbiologist at the Tucuman province’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council, agreed.
The lake has arsenic levels 20,000 times greater than what is considered acceptable for drinking water, and its temperature is often below freezing.
However, ice never forms because the water is so salty—five times saltier than sea water.
The bacteria’s DNA mutates in order to survive the ultra-violet light and low oxygen levels encountered at such high elevations, which might make it appealing to the pharmaceutical business, according to Farias.
She went on to say that it might have commercial uses in the future, such as sunscreens.
Farias and her colleagues are seeking Argentine financing to create a metagenome of bacteria, a sophisticated research that offers a DNA sequencing of the whole microbial colony.
This would allow her and her colleagues to investigate the bacterium in Argentina while also assisting the South American nation in retaining patents for novel antioxidants or enzymes that may be derived from the bacteria.
