MICROBES DISCOVERED IN SUBGLACIAL ANTARCTIC LAKE MAY

HINT AT LIFE IN SPACE

Michael D. Lemonick
National Geographic
August 20th, 2014
Below the surface of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, there is a lake called
Lake Whillans, which is 1.8 meters deep and 52 square miles.
The water in this lake is kept in a liquid state through heat from the
bedrock below as well as friction from glaciers that move over this
bedrock.
Biologists identified and retrieved several mineral-eating microbes from
this subglacial lake.
Before these findings, there were claims of similar microbes from a
different Antarctic lake, but the samples were contaminated by nonnative
organisms during the drilling process and this caused much controversy.
But, such a mishap was avoided through careful drilling techniques.
The scientists used filters to remove particles down to the size of
bacterium.
Then, the water was blasted with UV radiation and heated to 90 degrees
Celsius, effectively creating nearly pharmaceutical grade water.
More specifically about the microbes themselves, they come from nearly
4,000 distinct species or "operational taxonomic units" (groups of species
with similar characteristics).
They are also chemoautotrophs and thus, get their energy from minerals
dissolved in the water like nitrites, iron, and sulfur compounds.
These findings are a breakthrough because such microbes that have the
ability to exist without light or access to organic food sources could be
models for life on ice-covered celestial bodies such as Jupiter's moon
Europa or Saturn's Enceladus.
So, extraterrestrial life may also exist in places that scientists once deemed
uninhabitable.
This research is a landmark for the polar sciences, geochemistry, and
astrobiology.
However, it took more than a year of research to demonstrate that the
microbes they found are truly native to the lake.
As more details about the ecosystem are key to conclusive theories, the
scientists will return to Lake Whillans next January to take samples from a
different location, and try to find more, perhaps different, organisms.