01_NewsImage_GenomicBackbone

MIT scientists discovered an amazing amount of diversity among a population of marine microbes living in a few drops of water. Each subpopulation of the marine microbe Prochlorococcus is characterized by a shared genomic "backbone." The figurative backbones are depicted in this artist's rendering. (Image: Carly Sanker/MIT

MIT scientists discovered an amazing amount of diversity among a population of marine microbes living in a few drops of water. Each subpopulation of the marine microbe Prochlorococcus is characterized by a shared genomic “backbone.” The figurative backbones are depicted in this artist’s rendering. (Image: Carly Sanker/MIT