From Seafloor to Space: New Bacterial Proteins Shine Light on Climate and Astrobiology

Wednesday, 27 September 2023

In a breakthrough study, a cross-disciplinary team of Georgia Tech researchers discovered a previously unknown class of bacterial proteins that play a crucial role in the formation and stability of methane clathrates, which trap methane gas, preventing it from escaping and bubbling up into the atmosphere.

Methane clathrate (white, ice-like material) under a rock from the seafloor of the northern Gulf of Mexico.