ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Science

Million-year-old dormant microbes beneath ocean floor push life to its absolute limits

Zombified cells found in sediments deep beneath the ocean floor use slightly more than a zeptowatt of power to survive.

Tibi PuiubyTibi Puiu
August 12, 2020
in Science
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit

Every living creature requires energy in order to subsist, multiply, and pass on its genes. How much energy an animal requires depends on their habitat and size, among many other things. But some cells require so little energy, it just boggles the mind.

Recently, researchers have identified microbial cells that live in sediments kilometers beneath the ocean floor that require a tiny fraction of a calorie to survive. In fact, many of these cells may be up to 100 million years old, something that is owed to their suspended animation state.

Speaking to Quanta Magazine, James Bradly, a geobiologist at Queen Mary University of London and the lead author of a new study that modeled the suboceanic biosphere, said that “This entire biosphere of cells, equivalent in size to the world’s soils, hardly has enough energy to survive.”

Bradly, along with colleagues from universities across the world, employed existing data from previous drilling operations and lab experiments, which they modeled to extrapolate a detailed profile of sub-seafloor sediments.

Researchers projected values like the age of the sediments, the density of cells living inside them, which nutrients are available to these cells, and the rate at which the cells metabolize the nutrients. The findings were quite staggering.

When the researchers calculated the power consumption of the dormant cells living inside the sediments, they found that they were close to the absolute theoretical limit for energy requirements to sustain life.

These sub-seafloor microbes use only 0.1% of the power consumed by creatures living in the upper 200 meters of the ocean. The buried microbes survive at power levels orders of magnitude lower than any organism ever measured in a laboratory, the authors reported in the journal Science Advances.

RelatedPosts

New fossil proves there was life on Earth hundreds of millions of years earlier than we’ve though
Over-consumption is more deadly to Earth’s wildlife than climate change
Mass extinctions don’t come out of the blue — and we’re seeing some of the signs today
Researchers figure out how coffee can boost (some) solar cells

Previously, in 2015, Douglas LaRowe and Jan Amend, both at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, estimated the lowest amount of power required to sustain life. Even life that is dormant for millions of years in a zombified state waiting for the right conditions for reanimation needs at least some energy for fundamental biological processes like the repair of DNA damage.

Power per cell (watts) calculated on a global scale and depth-integrated for the (A) oxic, (B) sulfate-reducing, and (C) methanogenic sedimentary layers. White areas denote absence of the corresponding catabolic zone. Credit: Science Advances.

Even if an individual cell doesn’t divide, it would still need at least a zeptowatt, or 10−21 watts, in order to survive. The sub-seafloor microbes are just slightly above this threshold.

Some of these microbes may be up to 100 million years old, researchers report. Given their phenomenally low energy requirements, this all might change how biologists see cellular evolution.

The findings also open the possibility that life may exist in places that scientists had previously discarded as impossible habitats — and this includes other planets, as well.

The sediment samples that were used for the new theoretical model are around 2.6 million years old. However, deeper sediments might house even more starving cells, pushing energy requirements further to the brink.

Tags: cellslife

ShareTweetShare
Tibi Puiu

Tibi Puiu

Tibi is a science journalist and co-founder of ZME Science. He writes mainly about emerging tech, physics, climate, and space. In his spare time, Tibi likes to make weird music on his computer and groom felines. He has a B.Sc in mechanical engineering and an M.Sc in renewable energy systems.

Related Posts

Genetics

Scientists Blasted Human Cells With 5G Radiation and the Results Are In

byTibi Puiu
2 days ago
Biology

Researchers can’t rule out the possibility of life existing on Titan

byMihai Andrei
1 month ago
Biology

Mind-Blowing Calculation Shows Living Cells Outnumber All the Stars and Grains of Sand — By far

byTibi Puiu
5 months ago
News

The building blocks of life can form on space dust, offering clues to the origins of life

byAlexandru Micu
3 years ago

Recent news

The Worm That Outsourced Locomotion to Its (Many) Butts

May 16, 2025

The unusual world of Roman Collegia — or how to start a company in Ancient Rome

May 16, 2025
Merton College, University of Oxford. Located in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK. Original public domain image from Wikimedia Commons

For over 500 years, Oxford graduates pledged to hate Henry Symeonis. So, who is he?

May 16, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • How we review products
  • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Science News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Space
  • Future
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Physics
      • Matter and Energy
      • Quantum Mechanics
      • Thermodynamics
    • Chemistry
      • Periodic Table
      • Applied Chemistry
      • Materials
      • Physical Chemistry
    • Biology
      • Anatomy
      • Biochemistry
      • Ecology
      • Genetics
      • Microbiology
      • Plants and Fungi
    • Geology and Paleontology
      • Planet Earth
      • Earth Dynamics
      • Rocks and Minerals
      • Volcanoes
      • Dinosaurs
      • Fossils
    • Animals
      • Mammals
      • Birds
      • Fish
      • Amphibians
      • Reptiles
      • Invertebrates
      • Pets
      • Conservation
      • Animal facts
    • Climate and Weather
      • Climate change
      • Weather and atmosphere
    • Health
      • Drugs
      • Diseases and Conditions
      • Human Body
      • Mind and Brain
      • Food and Nutrition
      • Wellness
    • History and Humanities
      • Anthropology
      • Archaeology
      • History
      • Economics
      • People
      • Sociology
    • Space & Astronomy
      • The Solar System
      • Sun
      • The Moon
      • Planets
      • Asteroids, meteors & comets
      • Astronomy
      • Astrophysics
      • Cosmology
      • Exoplanets & Alien Life
      • Spaceflight and Exploration
    • Technology
      • Computer Science & IT
      • Engineering
      • Inventions
      • Sustainability
      • Renewable Energy
      • Green Living
    • Culture
    • Resources
  • Videos
  • Reviews
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Editorial policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.