Bacteria have been on the planet longer than any other living being, doing you think your research will help us to look

Question: Bacteria have been on the planet longer than any other living being, doing you think your research will help us to look at how it is we can adapt better to the changing climates of the earth and be able to find a way to live through things like Ice ages etc.
- Keywords:
  bacteria,
  research
Asked by abhishek to Paul on 27 Jun 2013.
- Paul Waines answered on 27 Jun 2013:
  
  Hi abhishek- great question and very well thought out (you’d make a good scientist I reckon!)
  
  You’re right- bacteria were one of the first living organisms to appear, although in those early days they were pretty simple and not like the ones we have today.
  
  What some microbiologists can do is trace their evolution- their ‘parentage’ so to speak- in order to work out how they have survived things like ice ages, giant asteroids etc. Others looking at ‘extremophiles’- which live today in places like volcanoes etc.- these bugs are pretty hardcore!
  
  By looking at these things we can hopefully use some of the features that have made them so successful in order to help us survive…
  
  Great question thanks 🙂

Question: Bacteria have been on the planet longer than any other living being, doing you think your research will help us to look at how it is we can adapt better to the changing climates of the earth and be able to find a way to live through things like Ice ages etc.