An entire ecosystem of microorganisms has been found in Earth’s most ‘hellish’ desert

In the Atacama Desert, where it seems impossible to live, researchers have discovered a hidden world full of diverse microbial communities. The Atacama Desert is one of the driest regions of the planet, but this has not proved to be an obstacle for many microbial species.

The scientists focused their attention on the Yungai Valley, where they took soil samples. DNA analysis showed that there are three groups of bacteria in the soil: Actinobacteria, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, and they are distributed unevenly and at different depths.