Microorganisms can live in a purely hydrogen atmosphere

According to an experiment conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, USA), Escherichia coli bacteria and Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast are able to live in an atmosphere of only hydrogen. The atmosphere of our planet is mainly composed of nitrogen, oxygen and argon, which did not expect them to live with just hydrogen. Researchers point out that they have grown 2 to 2.5 times more slowly than in the Earth's atmosphere, but, in view of the results, they believe that life could emerge in an exoplanetary environment much wider than previously thought.

According to MIT researchers it is possible that large rocky exoplanets accumulate more hydrogen than the Earth in its atmosphere. In addition, these planets are the easiest to detect as the low density of H2 makes the planet's atmosphere expand. Therefore, they ask that when the new generation telescopes are already underway, they should also be included in the possible list of planets looking for life.

In addition, they have highlighted the rich metabolic machinery of the bacteria E. coli, which has detected the possibility of producing numerous types of gases, such as nitrous oxide, ammonia, methanol, dimethylsulfate and isoprene, among others. They point out that all these gases should be considered a microbial life footprint. The study was published in the journal Nature Astronomy.