How a Microbe From Yellowstone’s Hot Springs Could Help Feed the World

Photo: Vapors over Grand Prismatic Spring at Yellowstone’s Midway Geyser Basin. Photo credit: MikeGoad via Pixabay. Article by Claire Turrell. Smithsonian Magazine – March 1, 2024.

In 2009, NASA researcher Mark Kozubal stooped down by the side of a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park. On the harsh acidic water, he could see that a microbe was thriving: A mat of algae had formed on the surface. Carefully taking a spatula, he scooped up a fingernail-sized piece of the algal mat and placed it into a sterile tube. […]

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