Post-Viking Microbiology: New Approaches, New Data, New Insights
Kenneth H. Nealson 1999 Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres v29 n1 p73-93
This journal article, published in 1999, discusses the advances made in microbiology and microbial ecology in the 20 years since the Viking missions to Mars. The article briefly reviews this new knowledge with particular focus on areas that may have relevance to the search for life in extraterrestrial environments. It includes: bacterial phylogeny and taxonomy; extreme environments and their microbial populations; microbial physiology; some new techniques that have altered how we study microbes in the field and the lab; and new environments that have been described on earth that may be relevant to extraterrestrial studies. The article may be viewed online with a subscription.
