fluorescent microscopy Archives

This picture shows many tiny cells in which DNA is abundantly included inside the cells. First, the microbial cells were detected in fractures in the rock sample using an infrared imaging technique called O-PTIR spectroscopy. After that, they were stained with a green solution and analyzed using both a scanning electron microscope and then fluorescent microscopy. The combination of readings from these three imaging techniques enabled the researchers to confirm the indigenous and living microbial cells in the 2-billion-year-old rock fissure. -- University of Tokyo

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release

A 2-billion-year-old Rock Is Home To Living Microbes

by Keith CowingOctober 4, 2024October 4, 2024

Pockets of microbes have been found living within a sealed fracture in 2-billion-year-old rock. The rock was excavated from the Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa, an area known for […]

The two major field sites: Eldfell, a decade-old eruption site on the island of Heimaey, and Fimmvörðuháls, a region between glaciers with access to both very recent and much older lava fields. At each major site, triplicate samples were taken at each point in a 1 m triangle; this pattern was repeated at 2–3 locations 10 m apart, and then that nested pattern was repeated 2–3 times at locations 100 m apart. -- Astrobiology via PubMed

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Correlations Between Life-Detection Techniques and Implications for Sampling Site Selection in Planetary Analog Missions

by Keith CowingDecember 20, 2023December 20, 2023

We conducted an analog sampling expedition under simulated mission constraints to areas dominated by basaltic tephra of the Eldfell and Fimmvörðuháls lava fields (Iceland).