(Times of India, Saturday, September 3, 2011)
It is a matter of pride and joy that Scientists have identified some mysterious organism in the dark depth of the ocean which they believe are converting Carbon Dioxide into a form useful for life. The bugs, which the Scientists call ”twilight” microbes, could be the missing link of global carbon cycle as they are found turning inorganic carbon into useable food some 2625 feet below the ocean surface, Live Science reported.The job of capturing carbon – crucial to sustaining life on earth – is usually carried out by plants that use sunlight as energy. But light does not penetrate below 656 feet of ocean, so plants can’t do this job. To survive, living cells must convert carbon dioxide into molecules that can form cellular structures are to be used in metabolic processes, the scientists said.
Simple, single-celled organisms called archaea that often live in extreme conditions were thought to be responsible for much of the dark ocean’s carbon fixation. But there was evidence that archaea could not account for the total amount of carbon fixation going on there.“Our study discovered specific types of bacteria and their likely energy sources that may be responsible for this component of the dark ocean carbon cycle” said study author Ramunas Stepanauska.
When the conditions are fast changing on the surface of this planet and the life-giving and life-sustaining factors and resources are depleting fast, there is no other way visible or foreseeable in the distant or instant future except to discover soon the alternatives to water, air, fuel, fire, food and fibre. This carbon-fixing bacteria is one such invention man-kind can boast of for the present. Kudos to the untiring effors of scientists!!
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