Science Alert by Andy Tomaswick, Universe Today 9/10/2025
Extremophiles are a favorite tool of astrobiologists. But not only are they good for understanding the kinds of extreme environments that life can survive in, sometimes they are useful as actual tools, creating materials necessary for other life – like oxygen – in those extreme environments.
A recent paper from Daniella Billi of the University of Rome Tor Vergata, published in pre-print form in Acta Astronautica, reviews how one particular extremophile fills the role of both useful test subject and useful tool, all at once.
That extremophile is a cyanobacterium called Chroococcidiopsis. Unfortunately, biologists don't have the same penchant for shortening names as astronomers do, but we will refer to it as Chroo so I don't have to repeatedly copy and paste the name that I probably already spelled wrong.
Chroo is native to the desert, with samples being found in Asia, North America, and even Antarctica, large parts of which are actually a desert, despite the persistent snow.
Given its rugged characteristics, several studies have already looked at different aspects of Chroo and the implications of how life might survive on other planets – or in outer space itself.
Two experiments, the BIOlogy and Mars EXperiment (BIOMEX) and the much cooler sounding Biofilm Organisms Surfing Space (BOSS) experiment used the Exposing Organisms to a Space Environment (EXPOSE) module on the ISS. You can tell we're definitely back in space territory with all the acronyms.
More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/microbe-that-can-eat-mars-dust-and-make-oxygen-could-be-a-great-space-pet
