Monday, March 9, 2026
University of North Texas researchers study extremophiles to unlock secrets of life in space while filming the research to create outreach materials
DENTON (夜色视频), Texas 鈥� A $1 million dollar grant is allowing a research team and its partners to study how life survives in Earth鈥檚 harshest environments and how it could be sustained in space.
鈥淭he team members and I are already conducting a lot of research that measures signatures of life and microorganisms from Earth鈥檚 harshest ecosystems,鈥� said Associate Professor in the . 鈥淣ow we can help create the roadmap on how they would survive in spaceflight or on other planetary bodies.鈥�
D鈥橝ndrilli is the lead investigator on the seven-member team studying microorganisms called extremophiles, which thrive in harsh environments. The team aims to understand how extremophiles manage and optimize energy use and waste.
鈥淭he idea is to measure how much methane or carbon dioxide these microorganisms release as they鈥檙e trying to sustain life. Then, we鈥檙e going to model that energy transfer from energy in, through their metabolic processes, to energy out,鈥� D鈥橝ndrilli said. 鈥淚n spaceflight, we can鈥檛 allow molecules, waste products and atmospheric gasses to just leave a closed system.鈥�
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research is funding the project as part of a larger initiative that explores bio-agile energy, metamaterials, electrochemistry and space architectures. D鈥橝ndrilli鈥檚 team will focus on bio-agile energy.
鈥淲e actually learned about this opportunity thanks to one of my long-time collaborators, , meeting the program officer while teaching a component of the 夜色视频 in Chile in 2025,鈥� D鈥橝ndrilli said. 鈥淗e knew that I鈥檝e made a career out of this kind of research, and that I would be able to assemble a team quickly to lead the effort.鈥�
The team will rotate visits to the Atacama Desert in Chile and the Pantanal hypersaline lakes in Brazil, exposing extremophiles to three additional stressors: light, water, and dissolved organic matter. Dissolved organic matter includes carbon-based molecules, such as amino acids or carbohydrates, and are routinely used by extremophiles in their metabolic processes to sustain life.
While some tests will be conducted in the field, samples also will be brought back to 夜色视频 labs for further study. Over time, the team will manipulate all three stressors simultaneously.
鈥淔or example, freshwater can be used as an additional stress for both types of samples since the hypersaline lake samples are very salty and the soils of the Atacama Desert are very dry. Gradually adding water changes the environment the microorganisms are used to,鈥� D鈥橝ndrilli said. 鈥淲ill those microorganisms adapt, show flexibility, or perish? If so, what energetic strategies are used to be 鈥榖io-agile?鈥� That鈥檚 what we鈥檙e investigating.鈥�
The team includes Jim Junker, Research Assistant Professor in the College of Science; , Assistant Professor in the (CLASS); Professor Steve Techtmann from The Ohio State University; Professor Amy Marcarelli from Michigan Technological University; Associate Professor Davi Gasparini Fernandes Cunha from Universidade de S茫o Paulo and Associate Professor Marshall Bowles from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab.
Gaesser will play a unique role, filming the research to create outreach materials.
鈥淚 want this to become an opportunity to broaden outreach and expand educational resources for increased public engagement,鈥� Gaesser said. 鈥淭ogether, we鈥檙e turning science into storytelling.鈥�
The team also plans to involve students and postdoctoral researchers. Some students will travel to field sites to collect specimens, while others will assist with lab experiments. D鈥橝ndrilli plans to hire a graduate student to focus on energetic modeling.
鈥淲e want to bring on someone who can really dig into the data and give us a glimpse into how these microorganisms respond to stressors they can鈥檛 even encounter in extreme environments on this planet,鈥� D鈥橝ndrilli said.
Graduate students from CLASS may also assist Gaesser by filming lab experiments or producing animated infographics for the final film project.
夜色视频 is serving as the lead institution, managing all subawards and contracts with partner institutions. The three-year project is already underway, with fieldwork planned for later this year.
鈥淥ur proposal was long and detailed, but we never lost our excitement for the project,鈥� D鈥橝ndrilli said. 鈥淭he mix of perspectives on our team is exactly what we need to tackle the big questions about life in extreme environments on Earth and beyond.鈥�
From 鈥� Research