Conan the Bacterium is the playful name given by biologists to an organism whose official moniker is “Deinococcus radiodurans.” D. radiodurans is microscopic, but that doesn’t mean it’s a pushover. It can take heat, cold, long periods of desiccation. In fact, D. radiodurans is so tough that you can’t even kill it with intense radiation—a sure‑kill treatment for most living things.
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