The Earth sits in what is known as the ‘Goldilocks Zone’ of the solar system. This means that our planet is at the right distance from its star to allow liquid water in most places, which is considered a key ingredient to create and support life.
However, although we inhabit a planet that in many ways offers incredibly comfortable living conditions, there are parts of it which are extremely inhospitable, and up until recent years were actually thought to be uninhabitable. And there is good reason for lifeforms to try to come to terms with these conditions. In the fight for existence, the fewer competitors and predators there are around you, the better your chances are; and so evolutionary pressures have ensured that even in the most unlikely of habitats, life on Earth has continued to flourish.
The plants and animals that exist under extreme conditions are grouped under the term ‘extremophiles’. These include organisms that exist in extremes of acid, heat, cold, salt, and atmospheric pressures, and each organism represents a fascinating research source for scientists.
In many cases the extremophiles of interest are microbes, and have the potential to be enzyme and protein factories for industry, producing new chemistries based on the extremophile’s unique abilities. The most exciting aspect of this research is that science has only explored the ‘tip of the iceberg’ and there remains an enormous wealth of potential for all areas of industry.
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