FAIRBANKS, Alaska, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists said they have found microbes in Alaska's permafrost living in temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit, BBC News Online reported.
A team from the University of Alaska and elsewhere discovered the bacteria by detecting carbon dioxide and methane in the soil, which they emit as part of their metabolism. The find was a surprise, because biologists had thought bacteria require water for metabolism and can only remain dormant in ice. It is therefore possible, scientists said, that living organisms could exist buried in ice on Mars.
"Typically, bacteria in the permafrost are in a dormant state but we have found that they reproduce very slowly and respire producing gases including CO2 and methane when frozen," said Nicolai Panikov, from the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J.
Panikov said the bacteria actually live in a mixture of ice and mineral particles, which allows them to produce the gases. The discovery raises concerns, however, the bacteria could be contributing to greenhouse-gas production.
