Despite common perception, most of Earth is what is often referred to as an 'extreme environment.' Yet to the organisms that call these places home, it is simply that (home). They have adapted to thrive in these environments and, in the process, have evolved many unique adaptations at the molecular- and 'omic-level. Scientists' interest in these organisms has typically been in how they and their products can be harnessed for biotechnological applications and the environments where they are found, while the general public's veers more toward a fascination with their deviation from the 'norm'. However, these organisms have so much more to tell us about Life and the myriad ways there are to perform 'simple' biological processes.
Keywords: Biotechnology; acidophile; alkaliphile; astrobiology; disease; extremophiles; genomics; halophile; mesophile; piezophile; proteomics; psychrophile; radiophile; repair; replication; thermophile; transcription; transcriptomics.
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