New ethane-munching microbes discovered at hot vents
Tuesday, April 21, 2020 - 09:00
in Biology & Nature
Researchers have discovered a microbe that feeds on ethane at deep-sea hot vents. They also succeeded in cultivating this microbe in the laboratory. What is particularly remarkable is that the mechanism by which it breaks down ethane is reversible. In the future, this could allow to use these microbes to produce ethane as an energy source.