Bacteria found in nuclear reactors could be the secret to faster, cheaper vaccines

Scientists have called the extremophile bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans “a robust generalist” capable of persevering amid prolonged exposure to everything from toxic chemicals and corrosive acids to desiccating desert heat and subzero temperatures. Colonies of the bacteria have been found occupying the coolant water tanks of nuclear reactors and thriving on the weathered granite of Antarctica’s dry valleys. They have faced exposure to solar radiation and the vacuum of space onboard a European Space Agency satellite and have survived punishing simulations of life on Mars at the German Aerospace Center in Cologne.