World’s Strangest

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Mighty Microbes: 4 Little Creatures that Pack a Big Scientific Punch

By Maggie Koerth-Baker


Big Name: Shewanella oneidensis


How It’s Saving the Planet: No one knows exactly how shewanella’s alternative breathing method works. What scientists do know is that the process transfers extra electrons to metals. When shewanella breathe in uranium and chromium (metals that can be toxic to humans), the extra electrons change the metals so that they can’t move through ground water. In other words, shewanella can actually stop toxins in their tracks. And that’s good news, because dangerous metals sometimes leak from factories and dumps, poisoning our water supplies. Because shewanella can stop these pollutants, scientists are working on ways to protect lakes and streams by surrounding toxic waste sites with the bacteria.

Big Name: Escherichia coli

You Know It As: E. coli

Don’t Believe What You Read: E. coli has a reputation as the scourge of the salad bar, but the vast majority of E. coli strains won’t make people sick. In fact, E. coli is one of the most important bacteria inside your intestinal tract. Scientists love working with it, because it’s a simple organism that reproduces quickly and because it contains the component parts of more complicated life forms, such as RNA and DNA.


Big Name: Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Adorable Nickname: Chlamyl

Its Place on the Family Tree: Prominent. One of the oldest forms of life, these single-cell algae live at the evolutionary branch that separates animals and plants, meaning they share characteristics with both. For instance, chlamy can transform light into energy like a plant, but it can also swim like an animal by propelling itself through water with flagella (the same wiggly tails that are attached to sperm cells). While chlamy can offer us insight into various aspects of evolution, it’s also helping us tackle human disaease. Because the algae’s flagella resemble cilia, the tiny hair-like structures that line your organs, scientists also use chlamy to model and understand the cilia’s role in illnesses such as kidney and heart disease.

How It Will Solve the Energy Crisis: One of the byproducts of chlamy’s photosynthetic process is hydrogen, an element people will need en masse to drive hydrogen-powered cars. Right now, hydrogen fuel is derived from natural gas, a non-renewable resource. Scientists are hoping that in time, however, chlamy will provide a cheaper, safer, and greener way to produce large amounts of fuel.

Big Name: Caenorhabditis elegans

Why Scientists Love It: This microscopic round worm is see-through. No, really. Thanks to its transparent flesh, biologists can easily watch what’s going on inside. And there’s a lot to see. Despite being less than 1 millimeter long, this multi-cell worm has all the physiological systems of much larger animals. Better still, 35 percent of its genes are related to ours.




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September 22nd, 2010

Stranger to the World


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