The Power and Diversity of Bacteria

Bacteria are the only living things known to have a wheel. Their flagella spin

like tiny propellers, letting them swim and change direction. These prokaryotes are everywhere,

from your gut microbiome to the most extreme places on Earth, like boiling hot springs—we call

those extremophiles. They're super simple: just one cell, no nucleus, and circular DNA.

This lets them reproduce insanely fast, sometimes every 20 minutes, which means more

mutations. Some cause diseases like syphilis or food poisoning, but others are essential.

Ever wonder about the holes in Swiss cheese? That’s CO2 from bacteria.

They're tiny and ancient, but they run the world.