Extremophiles

In Our Time

BBC

History

4.6 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 25 June 2015

⏱️ 46 minutes

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Summary

In 1977, scientists in the submersible "Alvin" were exploring the deep ocean bed off the Galapagos Islands. In the dark, they discovered hydrothermal vents, like chimneys, from which superheated water flowed. Around the vents there was an extraordinary variety of life, feeding on microbes which were thriving in the acidity and extreme temperature of the vents. While it was already known that some microbes are extremophiles, thriving in extreme conditions, such as the springs and geysers of Yellowstone Park (pictured), that had not prepared scientists for what they now found. Since the "Alvin" discovery, the increased study of extremophile microbes has revealed much about what is and is not needed to sustain life on Earth and given rise to new theories about how and where life began. It has also suggested forms and places in which life might be found elsewhere in the Universe. With Monica Grady Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences at the Open University Ian Crawford Professor of Planetary Science and Astrobiology at Birkbeck University of London And Nick Lane Reader in Evolutionary Biochemistry at University College London Producer: Simon Tillotson.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thank you for downloading this episode of In Our Time for more details about In Our Time
0:04.0	and for our terms of use please go to bbc.co.uk slash radio4.
0:08.9	I hope you enjoy the program.
0:10.7	Hello, in 1977 scientists made a discovery deep under the oceans that gave clues to life
0:16.4	we might find in deeper space.
0:18.9	The explorers were inside the submersible Alvin near the Galapagos Islands visited by Darwin
0:24.7	the century before.
0:26.2	They found hydrothermal vents like chimneys on the seabed with superheated water flowing
0:31.9	out.
0:32.9	There was no sunlight but around the vents there was an abundance of life feeding on microbes
0:37.6	and they were thriving in the vents in extreme conditions.
0:41.6	These microbes were termed extremophiles and a greater understanding of what they need
0:45.9	and do not need to survive a spawned theory about the origins of life here on Earth and
0:50.8	the conditions in which life might be found across the universe.
0:54.1	They also helped establish astrobiology the science of our search for life outside our
0:59.0	planet.
1:00.0	We'd mean to discuss extremophiles and astrobiology are Monika Grady, Professor of Planetary
1:05.6	and Space Sciences at the Open University, Ian Crawford, Professor of Planetary Science
1:11.1	and Astrobiology at Birkbeck University of London and Nick Lane, Rita in Evolutionary
1:16.2	Biochemistry at University College London.
1:19.2	Ian Crawford, what are extremophiles?
1:22.2	Extremophiles are organisms, almost all microorganisms which have adapted to live in environments
	...

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