Overview
- An intriguing look at how life can adapt to many different extreme environments
- Where are the limits for life development
- What are the different strategies used by organisms to adapt to different extreme environments
- The first item in the Astrobiology Road Map is the study of extremophilic organisms
- Extremophilic research is needed to explore the potential applications of these organisms
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Table of contents (28 chapters)
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Front Matter
Keywords
About this book
From the deepest seafloor to the highest mountain, from the hottest region to the cold Antarctic plateau, environments labeled as extreme are numerous on Earth and they present a wide variety of features and characteristics. The life processes occurring within these environments are equally diverse, not only depending on stress factors (e.g. temperature, pressure, pH and chemicals) but also on the type of life forms, ranging from microbes to higher species. How is life limited by and adapted to extreme external biotic and abiotic factors? This key question summarises the deliberations raised by this exciting and fascinating research area. Addressing the challenge of answering this question would help to reveal new insights and refine theories concerning the origin and evolution of life on our planet, as well as life beyond Earth. Investigating life processes under extreme conditions can also bring clues for understanding and predicting ecosystems' responses to global changes. Furthermore, this area of research has a wide application potential in the fields of (bio)technology, chemical industry, pharmaceutics, biomedicine or cosmetics.
(Investigating Life in Extreme Environments - A European perspective, European Science Foundation, May 2007)
Editors and Affiliations
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Life in Extreme Environments
Editors: Ricardo Amils, Cynan Ellis-Evans, Helmut Hinghofer-Szalkay
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6285-8
Publisher: Springer Dordrecht
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life Sciences, Biomedical and Life Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4020-6284-1Published: 30 July 2007
Softcover ISBN: 978-90-481-7596-3Published: 30 November 2010
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4020-6285-8Published: 21 July 2007
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VIII, 450
Additional Information: Reprinted from REVIEWS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND BIO/TECHNOLOGY, 5:2-3 and 6:1-3
Topics: Microbiology, Environmental Science and Engineering, Popular Science, general, Plant Sciences, Popular Science in Nature and Environment, Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology