Nanobe
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Nanobes are tiny filamental structures first found in some rocks and sediments. Some hypothesize that they are the smallest form of life, ten times smaller than the smallest known bacteria.
Nanobes were discovered in 1996 (published in American Minerologist, vol 83., 1998) by [Philipa Uwins], University of Queensland, Australia.
The smallest are just 20 nanometers long. Some researchers believe them to be merely crystal growths, but a purported find of DNA in nanobe samples may prove otherwise. They are similar to the life-like structures found in ALH84001, the famous Mars meteorite from the Antarctic. Recently there has been some interest amongst bio-tech companies in commercial application of nanobes in utilization of plastics. Some researchers believe nanobe-like organisms might be implicated in a number of diseases, and even that they may explain the previously mysterious calcification of teeth in the human mouth, and thus actually be a useful or necessary probiotic symbiont, like Acidophilus.
Although nanobacteria are sometimes called nanobes, it has not yet been confirmed that they could in fact be considered such.
Claims
- It is a living organism (contains DNA or some analogue, and reproduces).
- Has a morphology similar to Actinomycetes and Fungi.
- No article or research states that Nanobes are Nanobacteria.
- Nanobes are 20 nm in length which biological conventional wisdom assumes is too small to contain the basic elements for an organism to exist (DNA, plasmids, etc.), suggesting that they may reproduce via some unconventional means, like RNA instead of DNA.
- The Martian meteorite ALH84001, discovered in 1996 in the Antarctic, contained similar tubular structures which some astrobiologists suggest could be proof of life at an earlier time on Mars.
References
- [The Discovery Team's web site and Published Paper] National Geographic Channel (National Geographic Association)
See also
- Mycoplasma genitalium, Pelagibacter ubique — some of the smallest known bacteria
- Nanoarchaeum — smallest known archaeum
- Mimivirus — largest known virus
- Parvovirus — smallest known family of viruses
- Nanobacterium
External links
- definition: http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/N/nanobe.html
- intro: http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/index.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/nanobes/nanobes.html
- review: http://www.astrobio.net/news/article983.html
- pictures: http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/index.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/nanobes/nanoimages.html
- interview: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ss/stories/s132235.htm
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