Johns Hopkins University microbiologist Jocelyne DiRuggiero wanted to find out how it’s possible for a microbe to carry out photosynthesis in an environment where there is essentially no water available. So she collaborated with University of California, Irvine, materials scientist David Kisailus, who probed the biogeochemical relationship between microbe and rock using a battery of analytical tools usually reserved for studying nonliving materials. Using X-ray imaging, electron microscopy, and spectroscopy to examine Atacama rocks, Kisailus and DiRuggiero got a close look at what the bacteria are doing. Read More