As many microbes found under the ocean as in the human intestines

As you know, the human intestine contains a huge number of microorganisms - there are dozens of them.

trillion. The vast majority of them are bacteria. Recently, scientists found as many microbes under the ocean as in the human intestines.

Organisms living deep underground are not well understood by science. Moreover, it is believed that the “deep” biosphere accounts for up to 90% of the mass of all bacteria and archaea of ​​the planet.

In a new article, scientists described microorganismswhich were discovered after drilling the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, at a depth of about 5.7 kilometers. Researchers collected rock samples there and took them to the laboratory. As scientists found, each cubic centimeter of material contained at least 10 billion bacterial cells. And directly at the very bottom in the same volume you can find about 100 cells.

Scientists say that such discoveries are very important for finding life on other planets.