Most living things on Earth need oxygen to survive, but scientists discovered a species of bacteria that uses oxygen totally differently from every other organism on Earth.

To learn more about Aarhus University's research on cable bacteria, click here: https://bio.au.dk/forskning/forskningscentre/center-for-elektromikrobiologi-cem

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To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:

• Bacterium: a member of a large group of unicellular microorganisms which have cell walls but lack organelles and an organized nucleus, including some that can cause disease.
• Electron: a stable subatomic particle with a charge of negative electricity, found in all atoms and acting as the primary carrier of electricity in solids.
• Metabolism: the chemical processes that occur within a living organism in order to maintain life.
• Respiration: a process in living organisms involving the production of energy, typically with the intake of oxygen and the release of carbon dioxide from the oxidation of complex organic substances.

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CREDITS

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Cameron Duke | Script Writer, Narrator and Director Lizah van der Aart | Storyboard Artist Sarah Berman | Illustration, Video Editing and Animation Nathaniel Schroeder | Music

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Lizah van der Aart • Sarah Berman • Cameron Duke Arcadi Garcia i Rius • David Goldenberg • Melissa Hayes Alex Reich • Henry Reich • Peter Reich Ever Salazar • Leonardo Souza • Kate Yoshida

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REFERENCES

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Khan Academy. “Oxidative Phosphorylation.” Khan Academy, 2016, www.khanacademy.org/science/ap-biology/cellular-energetics/cellular-respiration-ap/a/oxidative-phosphorylation-etc

Nature education. “Cell Metabolism | Learn Science at Scitable.” Www.nature.com, 2014, www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/cell-metabolism-14026182/

Nielsen, Lars Peter, et al. “Electric Currents Couple Spatially Separated Biogeochemical Processes in Marine Sediment.” Nature, vol. 463, no. 7284, Feb. 2010, pp. 1071–1074, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08790

Pfeffer, Christian, et al. “Filamentous Bacteria Transport Electrons over Centimetre Distances.” Nature, vol. 491, no. 7423, 24 Oct. 2012, pp. 218–221, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11586

Stefano Scilipoti, et al. “Oxygen Consumption of Individual Cable Bacteria.” Science Advances, vol. 7, no. 7, 10 Feb. 2021, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abe1870

Turrens, J. F. “Mitochondrial Formation of Reactive Oxygen Species.” The Journal of Physiology, vol. 552, no. 2, 15 Oct. 2003, pp. 335–344.

Zhao, Ru‑Zhou, et al. “Mitochondrial Electron Transport Chain, ROS Generation and Uncoupling (Review).” International Journal of Molecular Medicine, vol. 44, no. 1, 8 May 2019, pp. 3–15, https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.2019.4188