In article <3phui0$j73 at lynx.unm.edu>, kwebb at astro.phys.unm.edu
(Kyle L. Webb) wrote:
> I saw a short story on CNN, saying that some researchers had managed to
> extract bacteria from the entrails of a bee embedded in amber, and had
> successfully cultured it. The claim was that the amber had engulfed the
> bee 25 million (?!?) years ago. (I know, shades of Jurassic Park).
> Even with forming endospores, that sounds pretty unbelievable. Of course
> the news squib gave too little data to follow up on sources. Does anyone
> know of this work? I think I heard them say that it was to be published in
> Science, but didn't catch the date.
The issue of Science isn't in the libraries yet, but I gleaned the following
from an AP article picked up by our local paper last Friday (5/19):
The work was by Raul J. Cano and Monica K. Borucki, both of California
Polytechnic University, and was published in the May 19th issue of Science.
There is apparently a News piece in Science as well, since the newspaper
article quotes Peter Setlow as having said (in Science) that "the data are
consistent with it [the bacteria] being ancient..." but that the work needs
to be duplicated by other labs to be accepted. The question of modern
contaminants is raised as well.
The "revived" bacteria are reported to be unique, but very similar to
Bacillus sphaericus, a modern microbe that plays a role in bees' digestion
of some foods and in the preservation of their food supply. This latter role
involves an antibiotic produced by the bacteria. The equivalent antibiotic
from the revivicants is being investigated for commercial and/or medical
potential by Amberjean Inc. of San Francisco.
For more details, we'll have to wait for someone's Science to show up.
