This Bacteria Changed Our World

Thermus aquaticus is the most important bacterium you may never have heard of. These bacteria, first found in Yellowstone National Park, single-cell-edly revolutionized modern biology and our ideas about the very limits of life on Earth. Who said a Bizarre Beast has to be an animal?

Host: Sarah Suta (she/her)
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#BizarreBeasts #yellowstone #bacteria #hotsprings #pcr
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[AdamYJ]

You’ve just opened yourself up to doing videos on Bizarre Plants and Bizarre Fungi.

[elizapi]

Thank you for going the outside the traditional animal box route instead of an imaginary beast today! I've seen that too often in years past from other channels, and it can be hard to tell that they were a prank video years after the fact.

[samwill]

Sometimes it takes asking "stupid" questions to find the things we've missed. It's why the only stupid question is a question unasked.

[idontneedaname]

We used the PCR method mentioned in my biotech class :) our teacher briefly touched on the origin of the DNA polymerase but it's nice to hear even more about where it came

[MandrakeFernflower]

Nowadays most PCR mixes use Archaea derived polymerases

Archaea are thought to be related to eukaryotes (it is still under research as to if they are direct ancestors of eukaryotes or if they represent a prokaryotic sister group to the eukaryotes)

[rbitrary]

Im kind of loving this interpretation of april fools thats been growing in popularity in recent years, this kind of "this isn't what we usually do, but for one day we'll have fun with it"! Kind of like a halloween for content creation and websites :^)

[WAMTAT]

I love how it's mame is effectively just "hot water"

[crazybiogeek]

One of my friends once decided to grow his beard until his PCR worked. His beard got pretty long before he found the right primers to use. But Taq was never the issue, thanks extremophiles!

[timmaw]

One of the many wonders that Yellowstone has given us. I love Yellowstone.

[nikkyk]

Studying microbiology has brought me so far that the first thing I thought of, when the temperature of the hot springs was mentioned, was PCRs😂

[remmirath]

This is actually one of the few bizarre beasts I HAVE heard of 😄 And now I have the PCR song stuck in my head...

[lauragromko]

this is one of my absolute favorite organisms I've ever heard of and learned about during my time in university, the whole story behind how it was found then got used for PCR is a wonderful one.

[RachelMichtom]

truly my favorite thing about this bizzare beast is that its name basically means "hot water"

[kingifrit]

the tap water one sounds like lab contamination to me

[amandaegeskovhald]

I absolutely has heard about Thermus aquaticus. I've even used it before.

[Lemurai]

I like your voice and delivery, it keeps me interested and engaged.

[Swishy_Blue]

Thank you! Real facts on April First! How refreshing!

[chaoticdusk]

As someone from Indiana I am mildly disturbed that this thing was found in out hot tap water...

[jimmij]

Another bacterium that could be useful to report on is Deinococcus radiodurans which can survive several thousand times the dose of radiation that would kill humans.

[murkyseb]

Very interesting, I’m glad to now know about thermus aquaticus