I'm Flor Lichtenen, and you're listening to Science Friday.

Today in the show, could the weird slime around your hot water heater help scientists fight climate change?

There's this vast, unexplored diversity of things they can do and ways that they grow that is unparalleled.

Microorganisms live in just about every nook and cranny on this planet,

and they've come up with some remarkable tricks to survive.

They can eat methane.

They can run on CO2. And so some researchers are

looking to microbes for solutions to some of our biggest challenges, like climate change. And they're

hunting all over in hot springs, volcanoes, deep sea vents, but also in your AC unit and your dishwasher. Here to tell us more is Dr.

James Henriksen, co-founder of the Two Frontiers Project, environmental microbiologist at Colorado State

University in Fort Collins, and Dr. Lisa Stein, climate change microbiologist at the University of

Alberta in Canada. Welcome to Science Friday, to you both.

Thanks, Laura. Thank you. I'm happy to be here. Okay, I want to start with a big question, and I'll send it to both of you.

Why turn to microbes to solve a big problem like climate change? Like, what do they bring to the table?

Lisa, let's start with you.

Yeah. So the interesting thing about microorganisms is that they are the major gatekeepers for two

of the dominant greenhouse gases that are affecting the atmosphere and and contributing strongly to

climate change. And those gases are methane and nitrous oxide.

And interestingly enough, microbes are the ones that are making these greenhouse gases,

and they also have the capacity to remove these greenhouse gases.

So we can use their powers to help us with the climate change issue.

James, anything you'd add? I share your joy,

...