Scientists have recovered samples from a cypress forest from that has been buried under sediment off the coast of Alabama for 60,000 years and have hopes that some of the preserved compounds may pioneer medical and biotech research.
Emer McCarthy reports.
60-feet underwater off the coast of Alabama lies a cypress forest - buried under sediment for 60,000 years.
Scientists hope that some of the samples discovered there may pioneer medical and biotech research.
And that the preserved compounds and enzymes could be applied to the production of anything from paper to renewable fuels.
A team of scientists from Northeastern University and the University of Utah dove to the seabed where the ancient forest is located.
As part of a project funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The NOAA say the greenery would have once flourished on the banks of a prehistoric river near the Gulf of Mexico.
Over time, the massive trees grew, and died.
Their trunks would've fallen before becoming trapped under the sediment for thousands of years, creating a unique habitat for the discovery of unusual microbes and molecules.
The scientists are particularly focussing on wood-eating shipworms--a type of clam affectionately known as the 'termite of the sea'.
The ones found in the ancient trees contain around 100 strains of bacteria, many of which are new.
And some are already being researched for their potential to create new drugs.
Previous work by the research team on bacteria in shipworms has resulted in at least one antibiotic being under investigation as a drug to treat parasitic infections.