From the volcanic crater to the lab: Extremophiles offer a lesson in survival

"Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative," wrote H. G. Wells. This principle—that survival requires change—was mastered billions of years ago by single-celled organisms living in extreme heat. Over the past few decades, studies of these organisms' adaptive mechanisms have yielded revolutionary technologies—from rapid DNA replication (PCR) and the production of heat-resistant proteins to the generation of fuels and chemicals.