DNA tests indicate the prehistoric germ is related to present-day Bacillus, a type of bacteria found in soil, water and dust. If the discovery by researchers holds true, the bacteria could open a window to the prehistoric world. The same type of bacteria research being done today was conducted in the mid 1970 s by Dr. Paul Tasch, a paleontologist in Wichita State University s Geology Department, using samples found from the salt mines in Hutchinson. The salt that is on display at Exploration Place also came from the Hutchinson mines. We took a look at each crystal that contained visible amounts of water.
All salt has the potential of containing minute amounts of organisms.
However unlike the recent discovery, Dr. Tasch s study of the Hutchinson crystals was not able to bring the bacteria into viability because of the state of technology during that time period. The crystals did indicate to be the same age Permian sea of the current study approximately 250 million years old.