Yellowstone managers eye profits from hot microbes

Milstein, M

A few scientists head to Yellowstone in search of a different breed of wildlife: Their quarry are thermophiles, hot-spring-dwelling microbes so small they are invisible without a microscope, but with such valuable natural powers they may be worth far more than their weight in gold. This microbiological gold rush was set off by the enormous success of the polymerase success of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A heat- stable enzyme derived from a Yellowstone microbe drives PCR, and now biotechnology companies and research institutes from around the world are prospecting in the park's steaming springs for new heat-loving microbes and viruses. These microbe miners hope to find profitable thermophiles with enzymes handy as tools in molecular biology or others that can themselves be put to work in high-heat industrial processes such as fermentation and conversion of trash to energy.

Yellowstone managers eye profits from hot microbes

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