Life in extreme environments
Abstract
Each recent report of liquid water existing elsewhere in the Solar System has reverberated through the international press and excited the imagination of humankind. Why? Because in the past few decades we have come to realize that where there is liquid water on Earth, virtually no matter what the physical conditions, there is life. What we previously thought of as insurmountable physical and chemical barriers to life, we now see as yet another niche harbouring 'extremophiles'. This realization, coupled with new data on the survival of microbes in the space environment and modelling of the potential for transfer of life between celestial bodies, suggests that life could be more common than previously thought. Here we examine critically what it means to be an extremophile, and the implications of this for evolution, biotechnology and especially the search for life in the Universe.
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The currently measured extremes of the physical and chemical parameters of habitability on Earth are only the limits for metabolically active organisms, and dormant life is often able to tolerate even more extreme conditions.
“It is important to note that the values shown are only the limits for metabolically active organisms and that dormant life (such as a spore) is often able to tolerate even more extreme conditions (Rothschild and Mancinelli, 2001; Cavicchioli, 2002; Jönsson et al., 2008).”
From The Astrobiology Primer v2.0 (2016) · cites this paper as Rothschild and Mancinelli, 2001
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- Authors
- Rothschild, L. J., & Mancinelli, R. L.
- Affiliations
- Ames Research Center (US)
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2001-02
- Volume
- 409
- Issue
- 6823
- Pages
- 1092-1101
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2155733474
- Cited by
- 2,245
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 90 · 2025: 112 · 2024: 114 · 2023: 103 · 2022: 115 · 2021: 239 · 2020: 132 · 2019: 118 · 2018: 120 · 2017: 100 · 2016: 106 · 2015: 86 · 2014: 100 · 2013: 87 · 2012: 94
- FWCI
- 3.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Planetary Science and Exploration
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
- Keywords
- extremophiles, liquid water, extraterrestrial life, astrobiology, microbial survival in space, panspermia, evolution, biotechnology
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Environment, Eukaryotic Cells, Extraterrestrial Environment, Temperature, Water, Ecosystem, Exobiology, Life
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