Panspermia previously thought to be inhospitable for life. Living bacteria found in ice core samples retrieved from deep at Lake Vostok in Antarctica, have provided data for extrapolations to the likelihood of microorganisms surviving frozen in extraterrestrial habitats or during interplanetary transport. Also, bacteria have been discovered living within warm rock deep in the Earth's crust. In order to test some these organisms' potential resilience in outer space, plant seeds and spores of bacteria, fungi and ferns have been exposed to the harsh space environment. Spores are produced as part of the normal life cycle of many plants, algae, fungi and
Magnetotactic bacteria greigite mineralizing MTBs are usually strictly anaerobic. It has been suggested MTB evolved in the early Proterozoic Era, as the increase in atmospheric oxygen reduced the quantity of dissolved iron in the oceans. Organisms began to store iron in some form, and this intracellular iron was later adapted to form magnetosomes for magnetotaxis. These early MTB may have participated in the formation of the first eukaryotic cells. Biogenic magnetite similar to that found in magnetotactic bacteria has been also found in higher organisms, from euglenoid algae to trout. Reports in humans and pigeons are far less advanced. Magnetotactic bacteria produce