Chapter 1
Discovery of a microscopic marvel
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Chapter 2
Life stripped to its core
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Chapter 3
The viral shadow
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Chapter 4
Redefining what is alive
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YOUR GOAL
Master of The ghost microbe Sukunaarchaeum
Ch 1 · Discovery of a microscopic marvel
futura Is it a cell, or a virus, you see? (Oh-oh, Sukunaarchaeum!) So stripped down, it depends on its host, (Yeah-yeah, blurring life's line the most!)
futura The microbe thrives inside a specific single-celled alga found in the world's oceans.
Fun Fact
Mythological microbes: Sukunaarchaeum mirabile is named after Sukuna-biko-na, a Japanese dwarf deity who supposedly rode on the waves in a tiny boat made of a feather.
futura Scientists named the newly found microbe after a miniature legendary Japanese god and the Latin word for wonderful.
Glossary
archaeon (noun)
Any of a group of single-celled prokaryotic organisms that are evolutionarily distinct from bacteria and eukaryotes. In 2025, researchers discovered a new species, Sukunaarchaeum mirabile, living inside marine plankton off the Japanese coast.
Any of a group of single-celled prokaryotic organisms that are evolutionarily distinct from bacteria and eukaryotes. In 2025, researchers discovered a new species, Sukunaarchaeum mirabile, living inside marine plankton off the Japanese coast.
Quiz
Before the discovery of Sukunaarchaeum, which archaeon held the record for the smallest genome at 490 kilobases?