[weberer]

Spore forming bacterium are notoriously resistant to most ways of killing them. There's even a species that can resist radiation amounts that are 1000x the dose needed to kill a human.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinococcus_radiodurans

[cobbzilla]

I want this mutation. You have little nano-crawlers going up and down your DNA strands fixing problems. It’s like ECC RAM for the essence of YOU. And you’re basically immune to cancer.

[dotancohen]

That is not how spores work.

[cobbzilla]

It is in fact how Deinococcus radiodurans works:

    Deinococcus radiodurans has a unique quality in which it can repair both single- and double-stranded DNA. When damage is apparent to the cell, it brings the damaged DNA into a compartmental ring-like structure where the DNA is repaired, and then is able to fuse the nucleoids from the outside of the compartment with the damaged DNA.

[6177c40f]

However, to bring it full circle, Deinococcus radiodurans does not form spores!

[throwuxiytayq]

That’s fine, I’d be content with having just the DNA repair nanobots, I don’t need to form spores.

[6177c40f]

Suit yourself, I often wish I could form spores, desiccate, and rehydrate at a more appealing time.

[Andrex]

Let the man dream (and possibly write interesting scifi about it).

[neonstatic]

> It’s like ECC RAM for the essence of YOU

Buddha would like a word with you

[linker3000]

So if, say, you were completely irradiated - every atom of your being - and fully repaired, would you still be 'you'?

/Is that a transporter energizing I hear?

[tippa123]

> Clues for future search of extremophile microbial life on Mars

That paragraph is pretty extraordinary with what is being claimed.

Crazy to think that anything could survive 25 kGy.

[k1ko]

25 kgy, not great, not terrible.

[tippa123]

What would you consider as great?

[dd8601fn]

They’re referencing the 3.6 roentgen meme, originally from the HBO series Chernobyl.

[tippa123]

Well played k1ko :D

[platybubsy]

WAOW I understood that reference! Hahaha that is a REFERENCE that I UNDERSTAND funny lmao