microbiome Archives

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astronauts and Explorers, Away Teams & Field Reports, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Press Release, Sample Return

Caves On Earth As Proxies For Martian Subsurface Environments

by Keith CowingDecember 16, 2025December 16, 2025

On planet Earth, the inner part of cave systems represents an extreme and isolated environment, characterized by relatively stable microclimatic conditions, nutrient limitation and protection from external stressors such as […]

Key Martian stressors (e.g., UV radiation, extreme dryness, oxidizing conditions, methane release) -- Nature communications biology

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Desert Worlds, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering

The Role Of Extremophile Microbiomes In Terraforming Mars

by Keith CowingDecember 1, 2025December 1, 2025

Terraforming Mars toward sustainable life-supporting ecosystems poses unprecedented challenges. Extremophilic microbes, which thrive in Earth’s most extreme environments, offer promising biological strategies for initial Mars colonization providing tools for resource […]

Obelisk alpha has a predicted extensive secondary structure and appears to colonise and speciate within the human gut a) overview of the iterative approach taken in Obelisk discovery, (see methods) b) schematic of the predicted sense consensus secondary structure derived from all non-redundant, 1164 nt Obelisk-ɑs found using SRA-scale k-mer matching (PebbleScout). Predicted open reading frames (ORFs) 1 and 2 (green/yellow), and Shine-Delgarno sequences (purple) shown, c) “jupiter” plot of Obelisk-ɑ coloured as in b), chords illustrate predicted basepairs (basepair probabilities grey, 0.1, to red, 1.0) d) Obelisk-ɑ relative read abundance for six donors (A-G); sequence data from in Lloyd-Price et al., 2019 and time in days from first sample. e) Principal component analysis of sequence variation seen in Obelisk-ɑ reads in Lloyd-Price et al., 2019 (the initial iHMP dataset), grouped by k-means clustering with 5 centres, coloured as in d). biorxiv via PubMed

Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report

Obelisks: Newly-Discovered Viroid-like Colonists Of Human Microbiomes

by Keith CowingAugust 11, 2025August 11, 2025

Editor’s note: researchers were surprised recently when an unexpected and rather novel biological structure was found inside the cells of the human gut. Nicknamed “obelisks” due to their shape, these […]

Phoenix spacecraft being tested in a clean room at Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Microbiology & Virology, Missions & Hardware, Panspermia, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Sample Return, Status Report

Extremotolerant Bacteria Identified In The NASA Mars Phoenix Cleanroom

by Keith CowingMay 13, 2025May 13, 2025

Abstract Background Human-designed oligotrophic environments, such as cleanrooms, harbor unique microbial communities shaped by selective pressures like temperature, humidity, nutrient availability, cleaning reagents, and radiation. Maintaining the biological cleanliness of […]

Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Space Life Science, Status Report

C. elegans Biological Investigation on Microbiome Effect in Space (CBIOMES)

by Keith CowingApril 12, 2025April 12, 2025

The CBIOMES experiment will study the interactions between microbiomes and their hosts using the model organism C. elegans (a nematode worm).

This preflight image shows lettuce grown under control (left) and flood (right) moisture treatments. -- Plant Habitat-07 team

Life Support Systems, Microgravity, Plant Biology, Press Release, Space Agriculture, Space Life Science, Space Stations

Offworld Botany: Plant Habitat-07 On-orbit Experiment Reveals Impact of Water Stress on Lettuce Plants

by Keith CowingApril 8, 2025

During his long stay aboard the ISS Astronaut Butch Wilmore tended the Advanced Plant Habitat experiment (known as PH-07) and returned with the science specimens on Crew-9.

First author Swan Sow, heading out for seawater sampling from the Rothera long-term ecological monitoring site of the British Antarctic Survey. Credit Swan Sow

Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Ocean World Biodiversity: Climate Affects Microbial Life Around Antarctica

by Keith CowingMarch 24, 2025March 24, 2025

Coordinated measurements throughout one year This study was a first, integrating data on bacteria and microbial eukaryotes (small organisms summarized as ‘microorganisms’, including phytoplankton). Samples were taken at two Antarctic […]

This cover image, captured by Xiang Xiao from inside the human-occupied vehicle (HOV) Fendouzhe during sampling at the trench bottom, reveals the mysterious life world of the hadal zone. -- Cell

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Missions & Hardware, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Life Thrives In The Deepest Ocean: New Discoveries From The Mariana Trench

by Keith CowingMarch 11, 2025

The latest scientific research at the deepest part of the ocean has revealed something extraordinary – biodiversity is extensive and flourishing despite the extreme conditions.

A mud volcano at the seafloor where methane-rich fluids from the subsurface are emitted to the water column. These ecosystems are at the interface between the subsurface and surface realms and are often oases of life in the deep ocean. Credit Mandy Joye/UGA

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Insights From The First Global Appraisal Of Microbiomes In Earth’s Subsurface Environments

by Keith CowingFebruary 5, 2025February 4, 2025

Which microbes thrive below us in darkness – in gold mines, in aquifers, in deep boreholes in the seafloor – and how do they compare to the microbiomes that envelop […]

Obelisk alpha has a predicted extensive secondary structure and appears to colonise

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report

Previously Unknown Life Forms Discovered Within Human Microbiomes

by Keith CowingDecember 29, 2024January 3, 2025

Editor’s note: A team of researchers at Stanford University discovered objects they named “obelisks” in the human mouth and gut. The obelisks are microscopic, circular bits of genetic material that […]