West Chester University biologist Russell Vreeland and two colleagues report reviving and growing bacteria from 250-million-year-old salt crystals. The work shatters previous records for waking bacterial Rip Van Winkles.
In the process, some researchers say, it raises deep questions about whether dormant bacteria are "essentially immortal" and bolsters notions of finding evidence for primitive life on other planets or in meteorites that land on Earth. Christian Science Monitor --Complete Article
