Editing Extremophile (section)

{{Short description|Organisms capable of living in extreme environments}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
[[File:Aerial image of Grand Prismatic Spring (view from the south).jpg|right|thumb|300px|The bright colors of [[Grand Prismatic Spring]] and [[Yellowstone National Park]], are produced by [[thermophile]]s, a type of extremophile.]]

An '''extremophile''' ({{etymology|la|{{Wikt-lang|la|extremus}}|extreme|grc|''{{Wikt-lang|grc|φιλία}}'' ({{grc-transl|φιλία}})|love}}) is an [[organism]] that is able to live (or in some cases thrive) in [[extreme environments]], i.e., environments with conditions approaching or stretching the limits of what known life can adapt to, such as extreme [[temperature]], [[pressure]], [[radiation]], [[salinity]], or [[pH level]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite journal |last1=Merino |first1=Nancy |last2=Aronson |first2=Heidi S. |last3=Bojanova |first3=Diana P. |last4=Feyhl-Buska |first4=Jayme |last5=Wong |first5=Michael L. |last6=Zhang |first6=Shu |last7=Giovannelli |first7=Donato |year=2019 |title=Living at the Extremes: Extremophiles and the Limits of Life in a Planetary Context |journal=Frontiers in Microbiology |volume=10 |page=780 |doi=10.3389/fmicb.2019.00780 |pmc=6476344 |pmid=31037068 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2019FrMic..10..780M |s2cid=115205576}}</ref><ref name="Rothschild 1092–1101">{{Cite journal |last1=Rothschild |first1=Lynn |author-link=Lynn J. Rothschild |last2=Mancinelli |first2=Rocco |date=February 2001 |title=Life in extreme environments |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1233097 |journal=Nature |volume=409 |issue=6823 |pages=1092–1101 |bibcode=2001Natur.409.1092R |doi=10.1038/35059215 |pmid=11234023 |s2cid=529873}}</ref>

Since the definition of an extreme environment is relative to an arbitrarily defined standard, often an anthropocentric one, these organisms can be considered [[Dominance (ecology)|ecologically dominant]] in the evolutionary history of the planet. Dating back to more than 40 million years ago, extremophiles have continued to thrive in the most extreme conditions, making them one of the most abundant lifeforms.<ref name="auto"/> The study of extremophiles has expanded human knowledge of the limits of life, and informs speculation about [[extraterrestrial life]]. Extremophiles are also of interest because of their potential for [[bioremediation]] of environments made hazardous to humans due to pollution or contamination.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shukla |first1=Awadhesh Kumar |last2=Singh |first2=Amit Kishore |title=Exploitation of Potential Extremophiles for Bioremediation of Xenobiotics Compounds: A Biotechnological Approach |journal=Current Genomics |date=2020 |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=161–167 |doi=10.2174/1389202921999200422122253 |pmid=33071610 |pmc=7521036 }}</ref>