Tiny Microbe Challenges Definition of Life

Scientists found a new microbe, Sukunaarchaeum mirabile, with a very small genome. It makes us rethink what life is and how viruses might start.

#Microbiology, #NewDiscovery, #DefinitionOfLife, #ScienceNews, #Sukunaarchaeum

https://newsletter.tf/new-microbe-sukunaarchaeum-mirabile-challenges-definition-of-life/

New Microbe with Tiny Genome Challenges Definition of Life in 2025

Scientists found a new microbe, Sukunaarchaeum mirabile, with a very small genome. It makes us rethink what life is and how viruses might start.

A new microbe called Sukunaarchaeum mirabile has been found with a genome less than half the size of other known microbes. This discovery is making scientists question what 'life' really means.

#Microbiology, #NewDiscovery, #DefinitionOfLife, #ScienceNews, #Sukunaarchaeum

https://newsletter.tf/new-microbe-sukunaarchaeum-mirabile-challenges-definition-of-life/

New Microbe with Tiny Genome Challenges Definition of Life in 2025

Scientists found a new microbe, Sukunaarchaeum mirabile, with a very small genome. It makes us rethink what life is and how viruses might start.

A Rogue New Life Form

A tiny microbe discovered by accident challenges the definition of cellular life

Nautilus
#Microbe with bizarrely tiny #genome may be evolving into a #virus
The newly discovered microbe provisionally known as #Sukunaarchaeum isn’t a virus. But like viruses, it seemingly has one purpose: to make more of itself. Most of Sukunaarchaeum’s mere 189 protein-coding genes are focused on replicating its own genome; it must steal everything else it needs from its host Citharistes regius, a dinoflagellate.
https://www.science.org/content/article/microbe-bizarrely-tiny-genome-may-be-evolving-virus