A detailed view of salt crystals from which the bacterium was isolated. Salt crystals may have the capacity to preserve bacteria for 250 million years, scientists report today in the journal Nature . The researchers revived bacterial spores discovered inside a salt crystal that was removed from 1,850 feet below the ground about 30 miles east of Carlsbad, New Mexico. Their finding may provide clues about how life on Earth evolved, how long life forms can survive, and whether life is able to exist in outer space.
Bacteria are the simplest, most primitive forms of life on Earth.
Some types of bacteria produce spores or specialist survival structures that allow it to exist in an inactive state under adverse conditions. This is the first time that ancient bacteria has been isolated with as much evidence to back its age. Before the age of an organism is accepted in the scientific community, Vreeland said, two basic criteria must be met. Scientists must establish the geologic age of the formation in which the organism was found and take steps to guard against contamination of the sample. Operating in an air-filtered laboratory similar to those used for handling human viruses, Vreeland and colleagues drilled into salt crystals to withdraw an isolated saline solution that contained bacterial spores.