Big Think What Earth’s undefeatable organisms reveal about survival
Jul 7, 2025
Betül Kaçar, a NASA astrobiologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, dives deep into the resilience of ancient microorganisms. She shares her groundbreaking work recreating environments from 3 billion years ago to unlock secrets of survival. Kaçar discusses how these tiny life forms adapted to extreme conditions and what their adaptations can teach us about tackling today’s environmental challenges. Her insights into microbial evolution and synthetic biology reveal innovative pathways for sustainable solutions.
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Microbes Shaped Earth’s Atmosphere
- Earth's early conditions were extreme and often inhospitable for life, lacking oxygen for two billion years.
- Despite this, microbes evolved and adapted, shaping Earth’s atmosphere and sustaining life continuously.
Microbes as Earth's True Survivors
- Microbes are Earth's fundamental survivors, thriving and evolving in harsh environments for billions of years.
- They preserve life’s survival strategies encoded through evolution, which we can study today.
Recreate Ancient Environments
- To study ancient life, recreate past environmental conditions like low oxygen and higher carbon dioxide.
- Gradually adjust ancient microbes to modern conditions to observe evolutionary adaptations in labs.