Recent advances in understanding extremophiles.

Abstract

Despite the typical human notion that the Earth is a habitable planet, over three quarters of our planet is uninhabitable by us without assistance. The organisms that live and thrive in these “inhospitable” environments are known by the name extremophiles and are found in all Domains of Life. Despite our general lack of knowledge about them, they have already assisted humans in many ways and still have much more to give. In this review, I describe how they have adapted to live/thrive/survive in their niches, helped scientists unlock major scientific discoveries, advance the field of biotechnology, and inform us about the boundaries of Life and where we might find it in the Universe.