Wow – who would have thought? Microbes are central to election in Wyoming

Fascinating story from a microbiology point of view: Republican candidates disagree on water rights in Yellowstone.  Seems that one of the three main candidates in this Republican primary election is focusing partly on microbes.  Here are some microbial quotes from the story:

“Jennings fervently believes that the microbes found in Yellowstone National Park’s boiling waters should be working for Wyoming, generating royalties to help fund state programs. The notion has received criticism from Anderson and Radosevich.”

“Radosevich simply refuted the notion that the state should seek monetary gain from Yellowstone microbes in the first place” 

“Jennings maintains that Wyoming is sitting on an “enormous bank of microbes” that have yet to be discovered. “

See more on this issue:

• 2012 Primary Election: Senate District 28 
• Kit Jennings (R) Wyoming Senate District 28
• Wyo Senate District 28 primary candidates vary on experience, issues

Author: Jonathan Eisen

I am an evolutionary biologist and a Professor at U. C. Davis. (see my lab site here). My research focuses on the origin of novelty (how new processes and functions originate). To study this I focus on sequencing and analyzing genomes of organisms, especially microbes and using phylogenomic analysis View all posts by Jonathan Eisen