‘Super life’ trapped inside cave crystals for millennia

BOSTON In a Mexican cave system so beautiful and hot that it is called both Fairyland and hell, scientists have discovered life trapped in crystals that could be 50,000 years old.

The bizarre and ancient microbes were found dormant in caves in Naica, and were able to exist by living on minerals such as iron and manganese, said Penelope Boston, head of Nasa’s Astrobiology Institute.

‘‘It’s super life,’’ said Boston, who presented the discovery yesterday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Boston.

If confirmed, the find is yet another example of how microbes can survive in extremely punishing conditions on Earth.

The life forms – 40 different strains of microbes and even some viruses – are so weird that their nearest relatives are still 10 per cent different genetically. That makes their closest relative still pretty far away – about as far away as humans are from mushrooms, Boston said.

The Naica caves – an abandoned lead and zinc mine – are 800 metres deep. Before drilling by a mine company, the caves had been completely cut off from the outside world.

Some were as vast as cathedrals, with crystals lining the iron walls. They were also so hot that scientists had to don cheap versions of spacesuits – to prevent contamination with outside life – and had ice packs all over their bodies.

Boston said the team members could only work for about 20 minutes at a time before ducking into a ‘‘cool’’ room that was about 38 degrees C.

Several years ago, a different group of scientists published studies about microbes that may be half a million years old and still alive. Those were trapped in ice and salt, which wasn’t quite the same as rock or crystal, Boston said. AP