Ok, it’s not a gadget, but reports of new forms of life do not appear very often…

A team of doctors at the Mayo Clinic is gathering evidence for the existence of a previously-unknown form of life to be called nanobacteria. Ranging in size from 30-100 nanometres, nanobacteria (if they are confirmed to exist) would be much smaller than Mycoplasma Genitalium, currently the smallest bacterium at 300nm.

These cell-like structures have been identified in tissue from diseased human arteries and other organs. If subsequent research confirms that these structures are self-replicating and that they contain DNA, then a new form of life on earth will be established.

Previous research has linked these structures with atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries, as well as other diseases. The American Journal of Physiology: Heart and Circulatory Physiology will publish a paper on this topic.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 20th, 2004 at 1:30 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.