An electron microscope reveals Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator, a bacterium species found living on its own in a South African gold mine. An analysis of the organism's genome reveals that the bacterium has all the genetic tools it needs to harvest food and build itself from raw materials found in its environment. It is the first organism ever found in nature to live independently from other species. Credit: Greg Wanger and Gordon Southam, University of Western Ontario