Deep-ocean microbes perform extraordinary chemistry in extreme environments. This research isolates archaea and bacteria that consume hydrocarbons and convert them into carbon dioxide through unique metabolic pathways. By visualizing and separating these organisms, the work reveals pathways that could be engineered to recycle greenhouse gases into clean biofuels, offering new tools against climate change.

This research develops stable-isotope tools to measure how microbes—the Earth’s “lungs”—breathe CO₂ in and out. Microbes are massively abundant and shape global climate. Findings show deep subsurface environments slowly emit CO₂, a process that may influence future climate dynamics as human-driven environmental changes accelerate.