Extremophiles and their unique adaptation ability.

Question

How do extremophiles, organisms that thrive in extreme environments like deep-sea hydrothermal vents or acidic hot springs, adapt to such harsh conditions and what can we learn from their survival strategies?

Answer 1

Extremophiles have evolved, usually over the course of millennia, in order to thrive in whichever environment they call home. Unfortunately for humans, we can't evolve nearly this quickly because of our long lifetimes, but that doesn't mean extremophiles can't help teach us things or provide useful natural products for us to use.

For example, the ubiquitous scientific use of PCR (Polymerase Chaine Reaction) would not be possible as we know it without the isolation of DNA polymerase from an extremophile known as Thermus aquaticus which was first isolated from a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park.