The "Noah's Ark" of Microbes?
Most of us are familiar with Noah's Ark, where God sent all kinds of critters for Noah to keep safe with his family when the world underwent judgment by water. Loosely borrowing from the Bible, scientists are considering a kind of Noah's Ark on a much, much smaller scale: microbes. Anaerobic bacteria image credit: Argonne National Laboratory ( CC by-NC-SA 2.0 ) (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents) Sounds interesting. Not only are microbes important for research, but many are beneficial for the health of various organisms. Let's hope they put safeguards in place so nobody kicks out a power cord or something. (I'm not thinking of an apocalypse, we just don't want them dying and all that effort going to waste.) Interestingly, the scientists are making evolutionary assumptions that "primitive" people in the bush have better, more natural eating habits. However, transplanting their microbes to people in urban areas, for example, could a