The Science Life Life

Microbiologists took 12 years to grow a microbe tied to complex life’s origins

Scientists are hopeful that an archaean may help answer how multicellular life evolved

Prometheoarchaeum syntrophicum

Scientists spent over a decade growing this microbe, which they named Prometheoarchaeum syntrophicum, from deep-sea sediment.

M.K. Nobu and H. Imachi

By Jonathan Lambert

- More than 2 years ago

Cramped in a small submarine 2,500 meters below the Pacific’s surface in 2006, microbiologist Hiroyuki Imachi scanned the ocean floor for signs of microbial life.