Editing Carnobacterium pleistocenium (section)

{{Short description|Species of bacterium}}
{{speciesbox
| taxon = Carnobacterium pleistocenium
| authority = Pikuta et al. 2005<ref>{{cite journal |title=Species: Carnobacterium pleistocenium |journal=LPSN.DSMZ.de |url=https://lpsn.dsmz.de/species/carnobacterium-pleistocenium |language=en}}</ref>
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}}

'''''Carnobacterium pleistocenium''''' is a recently discovered [[bacterium]] from the [[arctic]] part of [[Alaska]].  It was found in [[permafrost]], seemingly frozen there for 32,000 years.  Melting the ice, however, brought these [[extremophiles]] back to life.  This is the first case of an organism "coming back to life" from ancient ice.  These bacterial cells were discovered in a tunnel dug by the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|Army Corps of Engineers]] in the 1960s to allow scientists to study the permafrost in preparation for the [[Construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System|construction of the Trans-Alaska pipeline system]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Pikuta|first=E. V.|title=Carnobacterium pleistocenium sp. nov., a novel psychrotolerant, facultative anaerobe isolated from permafrost of the Fox Tunnel in Alaska|journal=International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology|date=1 January 2005|volume=55|issue=1|pages=473–478|doi=10.1099/ijs.0.63384-0|pmid=15653921|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The discovery of this bacterium is of particular interest for [[NASA]], for it may be possible for such life to exist in the permafrost of [[Mars]] or on the surface of [[Europa (moon)|Europa]]. It is also of interest for [[scientist]]s investigating the potential for [[cryogenically]] freezing life forms to reduce the transportation costs (in terms of life support systems) that would be associated with long-duration [[Spaceflight|space travel]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livescience.com/othernews/050223_arctic_life.html|title=Creatures Frozen for 32,000 Years Still Alive|publisher=LiveScience|author=Robert Roy Britt | date=February 23, 2005 }}</ref>