[M.D. Holloway]

Scientists find 50,000-year-old microbes in Mexican caves - The Boston Globe

Ancient Microbes found in Crystals - Amazing.

...scientists have discovered life trapped in crystals that could be 50,000 years old.

The life forms — 40 different strains of microbes and even some viruses — are so unusual that their nearest relatives are still 10 percent different genetically. That makes their closest relative still pretty far away, about as far away as humans are from mushrooms, Boston said.

This isn’t the oldest extreme life. Several years ago, a different group of scientists published studies about microbes that may be half a million years old and still alive. Those were trapped in ice and salt, which isn’t quite the same as rock or crystal, Boston said.