A microbiologist was able to revive a bacteria that was dormant for more than 25 million years in the stomach of a bee encapsulated in a piece of amber found in the Dominican Republic. The event is described in the “Discover” magazine of January 1996, and is mentioned among the 100 most outstanding scientific achievements of 1995.
Microbiologist Raun Cano, of the State Polytechnic University of California at San Luis Obispo, meticulously examined the contents of the bee’s body originally trapped by the sticky resin that flowed from a tree. The bee died almost immediately after being stuck in the substance, but its stomach contained a symbiotic bacteria, similar to Bacillus Sphaericus that is still found in the Dominican Republic, which had survived.
The scientist said the bacteria remained alive for between 25 to 40 million years without air or nutrients in a state of suspended animation. The magazine explains that there are some kinds of microbes that in times of stress are able to knit a strong protecting sack conformed of proteins, known as spores, and at the same time are able to diminish their cellular processes, to the point that they appear to be dead.
Once the microbe again perceives the presence of sufficient
nutrients in the environment, they revive, and this occurred in the event
described above. The magazine says that Raun Cano feels he has found over 2,000
dormant species. He is participating in a newly formed biotechnology corporation,
Ambergene, that will now seek a commercial use for the ancient microbes.
19-25 January 1996